Hologram
by CoronaIgnis
Summary: Megamind discovers a much more practical use for his holo-watch. High school AU. MMXRR, MXOC.
1. Prologue

First things first: consider this entire story disclaimed. The only thing I own is my twisted and overactive imagination.

* * *

><p><em>May 30, 1998 <em>

"You okay?" The youth's voice was soft, gentle. He laid a webbed hand onto his companion's side.

"No," the other teen grunted. His entire body was hidden under a pile of thin blankets. "It's a horrible idea."

"Maybe things will be different now," the first suggested. "Maybe we'll make friends. Maybe we'll even get girlfriends!"

"_He's_ going to be there," the second moaned. The first grew quiet. "I read about it in the paper. We don't stand a chance if _he's _going to be there."

"Maybe he's changed." But he didn't sound convinced.

"Can a leopard change its spots?" the other hissed.

"Well, if you manipulate its DNA enough, probably." His friend's voice was light, trying to make a joke. They both needed one.

It didn't work, of course. The matter was too serious to joke about. "Why is he making us do this?" the second whined, finally peeking out of his fabric cocoon.

"I don't know," the elder sighed. "I wish I knew, but I don't."

They both knew what would happen. They would be miserable, ostracized, despised. Their peers would bully them, and their superiors would turn a blind eye- or worse, join in the torment. His best and only friend was wiser now, wise enough not to make things worse (at least not in the way he had before; things would get worse no matter what they did), but that didn't make anything better. It might even make their situation less tolerable, as everyone would up the ante to make one or the other snap.

And even worse… what if _they _found out? _He _was bad enough; _they_ were a thousand times worse. He and his brother had only escaped _them_ before through the element of surprise and the fey power of their bond; this time _they_ wouldn't underestimate their quarries. If anything, _they_ would overestimate the tiny family of two.

He didn't want to think of what would happen then.

On the other hand, he understood the reasoning behind the decision. He and the younger teen needed the skills this experience would provide, but he wished they were more cautious. At the very least give them bodyguards!

Oh, wait. They couldn't afford bodyguards. If they wanted to stay safe, they either needed to come up with a cheap, viable idea for their guardian to implement or take matters into their own hands.

"We'll think of something," he said hollowly.

"Like what?" the other growled. "Witnesses for our last will and testament?"

"Uh, no. Ways to actually do this without dying."

"Or maybe ways to talk him out of this."

The elder snorted. "That's not likely, and you know it. He's even more stubborn than you are. That's saying something."

The younger sat up, pushing aside many of the blankets. His brow furrowed in thought. "We do have a few months," he admitted. "Maybe I can come up with something."

"Or I could," the other volunteered.

"No!" his brother exclaimed. "Remember what happened last time you had a 'big idea'? You could have died!"

He blushed. "Not really. I took all kinds of precautions. And it worked, don't forget that." He flexed his fingers meaningfully.

The other grimaced. "I still don't approve of that," he grumbled. "I appreciate it, I really do, but… it was foolish. It was beyond foolish! It was so far beyond foolish that the English language lacks words to describe its stupidity!" He flung out his arms for dramatic effect. Then, lowering his arms, he added, "But since you've brought it up… we need something like that. Something no one will expect, something we can hide from everyone until it's too late. Something crazy, something impossible. Do you have any ideas?"

"No."

The younger boy sighed heavily, rubbed his temples. "Neither do I," he confessed. "But don't worry. We'll think of something."

"But what?" asked the elder. "I honestly don't see any way out of this. He's so stubborn… maybe we should just beg on our hands and knees for more security. Or maybe we could get a concealed weapons permit. Wait, scratch that. I'd be too tempted to use it on anyone who bullies you."

"You are such a Mr. Mom," his brother teased.

He shrugged. "Someone needs to be. But me being a Mr. Mom isn't going to help us. It's not like we can just hide our… peculiarities." He looked down at his hands again. Save for the thumb, they were all webbed to the second knuckle. The skin beneath his nails was tinted yellowish-brown. He had no cuticles. Callouses lined his palm from all sorts of work- managing tools and knitting and drawing and clutching dumbbells.

They were strange hands, inhuman almost. And they were the least of his peculiarities.

When he returned his gaze to the younger boy, his brother had donned a pensive expression. Hope lifted his heart. He _knew_ that look. It was the making-look, the fixing-look, the solving-look.

A sly smile crossed the younger boy's face. "Can't, my friend, is a challenge. A challenge I accept."

* * *

><p>Can any of you figure out what's going on? Internet cookies to those who guess it right.<p>

-Corona


	2. Summer's End

_August 31, 1999 _

The classroom was filled with mindless chatter. Students who hadn't seen each other in months ambled over to their friends. How's it going? What did you do this summer? Nice to see you! Did you go on any neat vacations? Lucky, I just stayed home all summer and watched paint dry. How come you get all the cool trips?

Roxanne Ritchie was no exception. She leaned against a wall and chatted amiably with Sara, a timid but smart girl who'd been in her English class the year before. Sara didn't have any friends in this class- they'd opted to take the third-hour AP chemistry instead- and her smile was almost pathetically grateful.

The door opened again. Roxanne halted her rendition of her family's disastrous camping trip in the Boundary Waters to call out, "Hey, Syx, Kelly! Long time, no see."

A brilliant smile crossed the younger brother's face, lighting up his amazing green eyes. As always, the expression brought his face to _life_- not that there had been anything dead about it before his grin. Syx was just that kind of person- always filled with boundless energy that increased threefold when his emotions were strong and positive. "Roxanne!" he cried, and darted over to her. His older brother Kelly rolled his eyes and followed at a more sedate pace.

"I missed you," the green-eyed boy exclaimed. His thick mop of blond hair had grown paler over the summer, and his pale skin had tanned. "How has your summer been? And what about you- Sara, right?" She nodded. "How was your summer? Ours was- well, it was pretty boring."

"You need to train him," the future reporter told Kelly. "He still isn't giving you any chances to speak."

The older student grinned. His mouth was wide and filled with straight white teeth. "Do you know where I can get training treats?"

"You should just make them," Sara volunteered shyly. At the other girl's questioning look, she explained, "He was in my home ec class last year. He's an incredible cook."

"She's exaggerating," the senior disclaimed.

"She really isn't," his brother replied. "I'd do all sorts of humiliating tricks for Kelly's snicker doodles." He rubbed his thin belly for emphasis.

"You'll have to try that sometime," Roxanne laughed. Then she realized what she was forgetting and added, "Oh yeah! You guys need to give me your number and address so we don't go another three months without talking with each other."

As they always did whenever she inquired about their home life, Syx and Kelly exchanged quick, furtive glances. "We can't," the younger brother bluffed.

Roxanne placed her hands on her hips. "Why not?" she demanded.

Again, the shifty looks. "Because… we don't have… paper," Kelly volunteered lamely.

"It's the first day of school," their friend pointed out, dragging out an empty notebook. She glared at the boys' notebooks, which they had set down on the desk for the duration of their conversation. Kelly followed her gaze and blushed.

"We don't have pencils?" Syx asked.

Roxanne wordlessly handed him a pencil. "It's sharpened, too," she informed them.

"We forgot?" From Kelly's tone, he obviously didn't expect her to believe him.

She didn't. "You forgot your own home address. Both of you."

"…Yes?"

She sighed, wondering how to approach this- or if she even should. The Auslander brothers might know Sara's name, but that didn't mean she wanted to broach what was obviously a sensitive issue with a mere acquaintance around. Oh, she trusted the other girl, but there were some things that only close friends should hear.

Then Wayne Scott, more commonly known as Metro Dude, solved her dilemma by swaggering into the classroom.

Squeals erupted from almost every girl present, including Sara, as the white-and-gold-clad future hero floated through the door. He flashed a dazzling smile at his admirers and exchanged high fives with two of the boys. Several students applauded. Metro Dude's smile became wider. He waved at the crowd. "Thank you, thank you Metro High!" For that simple statement, he received a standing ovation.

Underneath the din, Roxanne heard Kelly moan, "How did _he_ get into an AP course?" Syx, the only other person near enough to hear him, shrugged.

Students swarmed around their idol, desperate for a handshake or smile or simple nod of acknowledgment. Noting that Sara, too, had gone- and that Syx and Kelly remained- she deemed to safe to speak. "I know why you guys are so touchy about your home," she announced softly.

The brothers froze. "What?" gulped Syx. "You make it sound like we're hiding something!"

"But seriously, guys. I don't mind," she assured them. The poor things looked ready to panic. "There's nothing wrong with living in a homeless shelter."

"It's a lie, we don't- huh?" Syx blinked owlishly. Beside him, Kelly's jaw distended several inches from its regular position.

Why, wondered Roxanne, do I get the feeling they were expecting something else? "Yeah, a homeless shelter," she reiterated. "As long as it's warm and feeds you and stuff- well, okay, you should probably try to get out of there as soon as possible, but since you're still too young to hold regular jobs-" She shrugged helplessly. "There's not much you can do, so you shouldn't be ashamed about it."

Her assumption that they were homeless stemmed from several observations. First and most obvious was their extreme reluctance to talk about their home life, or invite anyone over, or even offer phone numbers and addresses. Second was their closeness. Never in all her life had Roxanne seen two siblings who loved each other as much as the Auslanders did. It was like they had no one else in the world to depend on, like they'd lost everyone and everything else. Third was their clothing choices. They wore the same set of outfits every week, rain or shine or snow. As far as she knew, they only possessed those five shirts and pants. That meant they were from a poor background, possibly dependent on handouts.

The homeless shelter idea had seemed quite plausible when she'd concocted it early that summer. It had explained everything, even how shy they seemed at times and their wariness of the filthy rich Metro Dude.

Except, judging from their stupefaction, the homeless shelter idea was dead wrong.

Syx recovered enough to gasp theatrically. "Oh, no! You've discovered our secret, hasn't she, Kelly?" He elbowed his brother in the ribs. The senior's jaw clicked back into place as its owner nodded. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Do you really expect me to believe you?" she hissed.

"Believe me about what?" Syx was a picture of innocence. "You're the one who brought up the shelter and discovered our shameful secret."

"Oh, look!" exclaimed Kelly, pointing. "The teacher's here. C'mon, Syx, let's go look at the seating chart." He grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him away.

Mrs. Dorothy Truman was a plain, pudgy woman who looked like a grandmother-in-training. She didn't look like the kind of person who could supervise a group of explosion-happy teenagers in a room full of dangerous chemicals, but with thirty years of experience, she was more than a match for the student body. She didn't show it much, but she was quite capable of keeping even the worst miscreant under control. "Settle down, children, settle down," she ordered in her reedy voice. "I know, I know. It's very exciting to have young Lord Scott in this class. An honor indeed! But we have to settle down. I'll tell you where to sit while taking attendance."

Other than Metro Dude's pompous speech as to why he was taking AP Chemistry (apparently to 'better uphold the ideals of JUSTICE' and 'defend Metro City from the forces of evil'), it was a fairly normal class on the first day of school. They all introduced themselves and mumbled inanities about what they'd done that summer before plopping back down into their seats and looking over the syllabus.

The bell rang before they'd managed to get through the entire syllabus. The students fled- all save Roxanne, who was cornered by Metro Dude as soon as she'd gotten through the door. "Hey there, Roxie," he purred.

She stiffened. "We went over this last year, Wayne. I'm not playing hard to get. I'm just not interested in you."

Why was it that, instead of picking one of the girls who literally threw herself at his feet, Wayne insisted on chasing her? And, arrogant fool that he was, he'd persuaded himself that she couldn't really not be interested in him; she _had_ to be playing hard to get. The alternative- that someone existed who didn't worship his very shadow, who didn't adore him wholeheartedly- was too crazy to contemplate.

Roxanne thought of Kelly and Syx. They didn't like Metro Dude. That was one of the traits which had drawn them together.

There had been an assembly at the beginning of her tenth-grade year, where Metro Dude had introduced himself to the student body and demonstrated (meaning, shown off) his powers. Roxanne had grown bored with the repetition. He'd done the exact same routine last year in their shared middle school, and the year before, and the year before. He'd probably repeat it again next year. Sure, it was cool that he could fly and all, but was it really necessary to juggle desks with his feet again and again and again?

Sneaking out had been easy. Everyone had been so preoccupied with the sophomore's display that they scarcely noticed her passage.

Syx and Kelly had been talking further down the hall. Bored, having nothing better to do, and more than a little relieved that she wasn't the only non-worshipper in the school, Roxanne had introduced herself.

And a beautiful friendship had been born.

Wayne's voice snapped her back to the present. "If you say so, Roxie." His tone was amused, patronizing.

Anger flared. "I do say so," she snapped, trying to push him aside. Naturally, it didn't work. "Do you mind moving? I don't want to be late on my first day."

His handsome face twisted into a scowl. As always, the frown took away most of his good looks, making him sinister and ugly. "I thought that you'd come to your senses over the summer. Tell me, Roxie, who is he?"

"What?"

"The guy," he growled. Despite his white and gold, he no longer looked anything like a hero. "The one you're seeing behind my back."

Her jaw sagged with a combination of rage and shock. _Behind his back?_ He made it sound as though she were cheating on him! Or worse, as though she were his possession. So what if there _was_ a sweet, clueless, funny guy she wanted to make hers? It was none of his business! She lied, "There is no guy, Wayne. And even if there was, it wouldn't be any of your business. Now _get out of my way_!" She shoved him, bounced back into the wall.

"How is your first day going, young Lord Scott?"

The principal's interruption was so unexpected that both quarrelers jumped. Wayne's head snapped around. He forced his face into a smile, making it handsome once again. "It's okay, sir. How is yours?"

Roxanne slipped away.

She spent the rest of the morning avoiding Wayne. It was fairly easy, because they wouldn't have any classes together until after lunch. Sixth hour, though, she might have to deal with him again.

"I need a battle plan," she muttered to herself as she sat down in the cafeteria.

"For what?" asked Syx. "Scott?" His expressive face became concerned. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, I'm- wait. How did you know about that?"

Syx reddened. Kelly smiled. "Who did you think sent the principal to your rescue?"

"You looked scared," his brother mumbled. He twiddled his fork. "Mr. Takashi was nearby, so I told him where Scott was."

"You're a sweetie, Syx," Roxanne told him. His blush deepened.

She spent most of the lunch hour relating what had happened and begging for help. Both boys were vehemently against telling a teacher- it was his word against hers, and who could doubt the precious golden boy? At best, Kelly proclaimed darkly, she would become a laughingstock; at worst they would make her a total outcast.

They eventually decided that Roxanne should stay in company as much as possible. Wayne had a reputation to uphold; he wouldn't do anything with witnesses around.

The plan came just in time, because Metro Dude was in her sixth-hour American Literature class. Roxanne gulped and gathered her friends around her like human shields, chatting rapidly about their respective vacations. When the bell rang, she was the first out the door.

By happy coincidence, Syx and Kelly were in her eighth-hour economics class. They escorted her to her locker without a word.

"You guys are the best," she told them.

"I know I am," Syx preened. "And we're walking you home, too, so you get to spend the next half hour in the presence of perfection."

"Yeah," chuckled Kelly, "and Syx here is coming too."

"Hey!" the other boy yelled, glaring at his brother. "I was talking about myself, you imbecilic ichthyoid!"

Kelly's face closed. Syx, realizing he'd said something he shouldn't, clasped a hand over his mouth. He stared at Roxanne nervously. The girl stared back, totally nonplussed. She'd only seen that kind of reaction when they'd let something important slip: that they had been raised by unrelated 'uncles,' that they knew a warden, that they had gone to school for one disastrous year before their long bout of home-schooling.

_Ichthyoid, _the girl thought, wondering what that was. She'd never heard the word before.

There was no harm in taking the direct approach, so she asked, "What's an ichthyoid?"

"I was trying to say imiod," Syx lied. "It came out wrong. You know me and my mispronunciations."

Roxanne halted. "Look," the girl growled, "I can understand if you don't to tell me. I really can. But if you lie to me, it's fair game."

Her fellow junior had the grace to look ashamed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Roxanne decided to press her advantage. "And speaking of lies, why were you so shocked when I thought you lived in a homeless shelter?" An ugly thought struck her. "You're not completely homeless, are you?"

"Of course not," Syx replied. "We have a home, and it's a lot bigger than a cardboard box."

"Could we not talk about this?" Kelly asked softly. "It's not that we don't trust you, Miss Ritchie. It's just that…." He ran his fingers through his hair. As always, he avoided the very top of his head, moving his hand to the right. "It's complicated."

The girl debated. On the one hand, she was nosy. The urge to know things, to uncover secrets, was almost a compulsion in her. On the other, Syx and Kelly were her friends.

She heaved a sigh. "Fine. You win." For now, at least. "And for the last time, you idiotic ichthyoid, don't call me Miss Ritchie. It's Roxanne."

* * *

><p>The name Syx belongs to silvershephard.<p>

This chapter should have made a lot of things clear. Did it?


	3. Something's Fishy

_September 2, 1999 _

_Ichthyoid, n. and adj.: 1) resembling a fish 2) any fishlike vertebrate _

Roxanne knew that she shouldn't be snooping, but she couldn't help herself. Even then, once she'd made the decision to poke around, it had taken a while to stumble on the correct spelling. "Ichthyoid" was an odd word, very difficult to sound out.

She knew why Syx had essentially called his brother a fish, and that knowledge both relieved and disappointed her. On the one hand, she hadn't exactly betrayed them because she already understood the fish reference. On the other hand, she knew nothing new. The Auslanders remained as mysterious as ever.

Kelly was a swimmer. He refused to try out for the swim team, citing unspecified unfair advantages and a strong dislike of chlorine, but Roxanne had heard countless tales (from Syx, of course; Kelly was too modest to boast) about the boy's prowess in the water. Her friend had simply been mocking his brother's swimming abilities.

Roxanne frowned. If the reference was that obvious, why had they freaked out over Syx's slip? It wasn't like she didn't know about Kelly's love of water.

Oh, no. No no no. She had already betrayed their trust by going behind their backs; she wasn't going to do it again. So what if this might explain the Maria thing from last year and why everything strange she'd ever noticed about them and- Roxanne forced herself to stop listing things it might explain before she gave in and did something stupid. It was really none of her business. Tempting or not (and oh, it was tempting), she would ignore this.

She slammed shut the dictionary and walked away.

* * *

><p><em>June 9, 1993 <em>

Was he really going to do this?

The young fish stared at his reflection: wide gold-brown eyes, pale face, sharp fangs, glowing _xibenlo._ His eyes moved from his true form, the floating fish, to the second body encasing it. He wore a chimp-like robotic suit, complete with faux fur.

It was a good machine, especially considering his beloved master's youth. With a little practice, the fish could control it with as much finesse as his natural form. It was certainly a far cry from his first robotic suit, which had been destroyed after a disastrous incident involving popcorn and lasers. For one thing, the chimp was controlled directly by his brainwaves instead of a remote control. Most human scientists couldn't comprehend how that was done- he had trouble understanding himself- but the result was that it worked almost as smoothly and efficiently as his actual fish body.

He flexed his mechanical hands, moving them between his form and his reflection. It was a good invention, a strong invention. It hadn't failed him yet….

He had a way to navigate on land. He could easily use this suit to protect his master.

…but it was still a suit. If he was separated from it, he would be helpless. His only friend, the only other survivor, would be without protection. They might die, because anyone who took him out of his chimp definitely wouldn't have their best interests in mind.

"Am I brave enough?" he whispered. His reflection did not respond. It just stared back up at him, a mask of confusion.

It was stupid to doubt. He'd been working on this for years, ever since the inadequacies of his fishy form had become painfully apparent. It was sheer idiocy to get wet feet now.

He reached for the purple-filled syringe he'd brought with him. Just as his hands closed around it, his entire robot body went stiff. His fish-self trembled like an autumn leaf.

He leaned back onto his ape haunches and sat, lost in thought. Had the sun gone dark and the moon fallen at his feet, he wouldn't have noticed.

He stayed there for a long, long time, completely silent. His eyes were half-shut, seeing nothing, seeing everything.

For the first time in years, the fish forced himself to think selfishly. Did _he_ want to do this- not just for his master's sake, but for his own? And if he did follow through, would he regret this for the rest of his life?

The sun began to dip. It wasn't very low in the sky, not yet, but his partner would be getting worried. He'd helped the piscine sneak out, though he had no idea what the fish was contemplating. If he'd known, he would never have let the ichthyoid out of his sight.

A smile finally graced the piscine's face. Yes. Selfishly and selflessly, this was the best thing to do. And so he would do it.

Still smiling, he pulled his fish self out of the robotic body for the last time. He dropped himself into the still-cold waters of Lake Michigan.

The suit moved almost of its own accord, directed by invisible cords of thought. It stuck the syringe's needle into its master's body- and pushed.

* * *

><p><em>September 19, 1999 <em>

"Time to choose lab partners," Mrs. Truman announced. Normally they went through this earlier in the fall, but she was trying out a new version of the syllabus this year. Hopefully it would help students comprehend the material more thoroughly. Thus far, though, she hadn't seen any evidence of that.

A murmur of excitement bubbled from her class. Friends made eye contact and nodded, creating silent pacts. Many people first looked to one of the Auslanders, who were indisputably the smartest kids in the class. The brothers just smiled and shook their heads. As always, they wanted to stick together.

"Since there are so many of you in this class, you'll partner in groups of four and one group of three." Once again, all heads turned to the brothers. "You have five minutes to find your partners."

The students swarmed towards the brothers. "Save us, Roxanne," Syx wailed theatrically. He mimed drowning beneath the desperate students.

The girl laughed. "Get up, you twit. We're the group of three, then?"

"No fair," whined a senior whose name she couldn't remember. "The three smartest people in one group?" He looked appealingly at Metro Dude.

"You just want me and Kelly to do all your work for you," Syx retorted.

"Now, Syx," chided Metro Dude, slapping him on the back with such force that the small blond staggered forward. Kelly caught his brother and glared. "Be nice. He has a point; it isn't fair to the rest of the class. Wouldn't you agree, Mrs. Truman?" He flashed her a dazzling smile.

She caved, blushing slightly. "You're right, of course. Syx, Kelly, find some other partners. Roxanne, you and young Lord Scott can partner with Freddy and Simone."

The girl blanched. She'd be stuck with Wayne for the _entire year?_ What awful thing had she done to deserve this?

Syx and Kelly looked equally discomfited. The brothers were inseparable. They were a package deal, two peas in a pod, Siamese twins attached at the hip. Except for English, which was different for different grades, they took all their classes together. When one took up a hobby, the other would also take it up or find a way to involve himself indirectly.

When Kelly had joined the spring play, his brother had been right at his side. Syx hadn't gotten a part (he was too overdramatic), but he'd joined as a techie. When Syx had decided to found a science club, Kelly was his right-hand man. They literally did everything together. It seemed almost cruel to separate them.

Simone and Freddy (the one who'd complained) were both seniors, so Roxanne didn't know them very well. She introduced herself, steadfastly ignoring Metro Dude. Maybe if she pretended he didn't exist, he would finally get the message.

…Well, it couldn't hurt to try.

"Metro Dude," Wayne announced. Simone and Freddy grinned sycophantically and started gushing about how honored they were.

"All right, settle down," Mrs. Truman ordered. "Now go choose your lab tables. We're going to look over the different supplies. Has everyone found a place?" Nods all around. Unsurprisingly, Syx and Kelly had chosen adjacent tables. "Good. If you open up the cupboard at the bottom right, you should find a Bunsen burner…."

Class continued in that vein for another forty-five minutes. Roxanne's table was missing an Erlenmeyer flask, so they informed the teacher before leaving. Truman simply shook her head. "Every year, something goes missing," she groaned. "Not to worry, though. I'll put it on the list."

Metro Dude took hold of Roxanne's arm and half-led, half-dragged her out. Her heart fluttered. He wouldn't hurt her deliberately, but he didn't seem to know his own strength- or comprehend the concept of pain. She was _not_ looking forward to their talk.

But Syx and Kelly were waiting for her at the door. "Ollo, Roxanne," the former said. Wayne's grip on her arm tightened almost imperceptibly.

"It's 'hello,' Syx," sighed his long-suffering brother.

"He-lo," he repeated with the air of one mastering a foreign language. "And he-lo to you too, Metro Dude."

They stayed with her until Wayne gave up and left. The super shot them a nasty look as he retreated.

"You should get a restraining order on him," Syx declared.

"I can't," she groaned. "My mom wouldn't let me."

"The hair?" asked Kelly.

"The hair," she agreed.

Last January, they'd held a conversation on the source of Metro Dude's almost unnatural charm. Their speculation had grown steadily sillier until Syx had 'settled' the matter by deducing that the super's hair emitted mind-control rays. Ever since then, they had used the hair as an explanation for people's often irrational adoration of Wayne.

"I still think we should shave him bald and release all these mindless drones from their bondage," Syx decreed.

"If you can find a way to shave his head without dying, count me in," Roxanne laughed. She glanced at the clock and blanched. "Sorry, guys, but I've gotta go. My class is on the other side of the building."

The rest of the morning was fairly monotonous. It was only during lunch that things became interesting.

"Kelly?" breathed a soft, nervous voice.

The boy went rigid. He didn't turn around. He didn't even blink. "Hi, Maria." His voice was strained, miserable.

Roxanne's heart went out to them both. She didn't know Maria as well as she did the boys, but the two girls were still fairly close. Last year, they'd formed a lunchtime quartet, eating all their meals together and exchanging stories. Then Maria had fallen in love with Kelly, and everything had changed.

Unlike most boys (including his brother), Kelly wasn't clueless with regards to romance. He _saw_ Maria's crush on him- he even reciprocated her feelings, though he tried to hide it- and one day early in May he'd taken her aside for a long, heartbreaking conversation. Roxanne had no idea what they'd discussed- neither friend had ever told her- but they'd both come to school the next day red-eyed and puffy-faced.

Since then, they had been passively avoiding each other. Their feelings hadn't changed, but they had made some kind of pact not to act on them.

"We need to talk," she told him.

The other senior finally moved. His brown-gold eyes met her hazel gaze. His expression was so yearningly miserable that Roxanne's heart broke. This wasn't just some high school crush. This was the kind of deep love that her grandparents shared.

And to think they hadn't been on a single date.

"There's nothing to be said," he whispered. "I've already told you, Maria. We can't be together."

"This really isn't the place to talk about it," Maria replied. "Come on, Kelly. Let's just…." She shrugged helplessly, unable to articulate her thoughts. At least she wasn't babbling, as she often did to fight off nerves.

Everything about the other senior seemed to droop: his hair, his face, even his enormous ears. "I owe you that much, at least," he sighed. "Syx, Roxanne, you two don't mind?" He was obviously half-hoping they would mind, that they would give him an excuse to put this off.

They didn't, so he excused himself and went after her.

"What exactly is going on with them?" wondered Roxanne.

Syx sighed. "You've seen how they look at each other, right?"

"Who hasn't?" she retorted. The entire school knew about their suppressed romance.

His lips twitched. "Good point. Well, last year, Kelly explained to her why he can't date anyone. He said that she should find someone better, someone who deserved her. Poor thing was miserable for days afterwards."

"That's awful," Roxanne sympathized. She wondered why sweet, kind, protective, nurturing Kelly Auslander thought he shouldn't date. Either he was dying of some horrible disease, or he was completely deluded. As he did not seem to be dying, the future reporter favored the second explanation.

Syx nodded.

"So is that why you don't date?" Roxanne asked softly. "As a show of support for him?"

The blond boy started. "No, I don't date… actually, we have a lot of the same reasons. Genetics stuff. But it's different for him. He and Maria would be good for each other. He shouldn't have to suffer just because he's-" He realized what he was saying. His jaw snapped shut. "Because of… _stuff_."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Let me get this straight. You and your brother have the exact same reasons for not dating anyone, and while it's not okay for him, it's a perfectly legitimate excuse for you?"

He blinked rapidly. "Um… yes?"

"Maybe that's why he doesn't date," she mused. "Maybe he doesn't _really_ think that he shouldn't date, but since you don't and he doesn't want you to feel left out, he doesn't." Hint, hint, Syx.

He stared at his mashed potatoes without speaking.

"It's the kind of thing he would do," she shrugged, not taking her gaze from him. "And even if he hasn't thought about it, it's still ridiculous to apply these double standards to yourself. If Kelly can find a girl, why can't you?"

"Roxannewillyougooutwithme?" His words tripped over each other in their haste to escape. The second they were out in the open, he clapped his hands over his mouth.

The other junior did an internal victory dance. Yes! He'd finally gotten the hint! But she had to play it cool- she _loathed_ those girls who squealed over their boyfriend's every move. "What was that?"

"Forget it," he mumbled, pink-cheeked and mortified.

She debated: play cool and let him get away with it or admit she'd understood what he'd been saying? She opted for the second choice. "Of course I'll go out with you."

"Oh, is _that _what you thought I said?"

She fixed him with a flat stare. His pink blush deepened. Then he realized what she'd said and his entire being filled with that boisterous energy she loved so much. "You _will?_"

Roxanne grinned and nodded.

Syx looked ready to jump on the table and do the happy dance. "You'll go on a date with me? _You'll_- with_ me-?_"

He laughed, grabbed her by the hands and started swinging her around. Other students gawked. Roxanne glimpsed their faces and started laughing, too.

Then, for no reason that Roxanne could discern, Syx stopped spinning. He stared at his tanned brown hands blankly, as though surprised by their color and shape. Those too-green eyes dulled.

"What's wrong?" his new girlfriend asked.

Syx hesitated, still looking at his hands. He forced a smile. "Nothing."

* * *

><p><em>Xibenlo:<em> (ksee-behn-LOW), the bioluminescent tendrils of the Pir.

DON'T DO IT, MINION! DRUGS ARE BAD! JUST SAY NO! And Syx, you probably shouldn't be pulling a Bernard…. It's just a really bad idea.

If Maria starts exhibiting Sueish qualities, feel free to throw rotten tomatoes. And let me know, okay? I don't want to make a Sue.

-Corona


	4. Excuses

Pay attention to the date markers, okay? They're kind of important. They keep people from getting mixed up.

* * *

><p><em>May 9, 1999 <em>

He had so many excuses to delay the inevitable. It was almost time for exams, and Maria didn't need this additional stress now. It was almost summer, so maybe she'd find someone else before school started up again. If he just ignored the problem, it would go away. He didn't want to ruin their friendship. He couldn't risk it.

But the teen calling himself Kelly Auslander knew that the excuses were just that: excuses. And he knew that he had to ignore them before things got even worse, before he lost his nerve.

His unrelated brother placed a hand on Kelly's shoulder. The older boy grimaced. Time to take the plunge and hope he didn't drown them both.

"Hey, Maria? Can I talk to you?"

She turned aside from her locker. "Sure thing, Kelly."

"Bye," Syx murmured, preparing to leave.

Maria blinked in surprise. The Auslanders were a package deal: where one went, the other followed. They just _didn't_ separate.

Hope fluttered in her chest. She clutched her books tighter, trying to quell it. Why would her crush choose now of all times to address their relationship?

"It's a gorgeous day out," he mumbled, not meeting her eyes. "Let's talk on the roof."

"That's against the rules," she pointed out.

"I know," he groaned, "but with Metro Dude gone, no one's going to bust us. Please, Maria_._ I just need to make sure we're alone."

She hesitated. Kelly wasn't the kind of person to break rules willy-nilly. If he wanted to go up on the roof without Syx, he had a good reason. She trusted him absolutely, and he did have a point about Metro Dude being on vacation. Without him, no one was bothering to look for rule-breakers. "Okay," she mumbled, hefting her backpack.

They walked together to the forbidden staircase. Its door was locked. Kelly glanced over his shoulder and, after making sure that the coast was clear, began to pick the lock with what seemed to be a genuine thief's toolkit. Maria's eyebrows climbed up her forehead and into her hair.

Whenever she got nervous, she either fell completely silent or started blabbing out every thought to flit across her mind. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "And where did you learn to pick locks? And what's that? Where did you get it?"

He slid the door open and gestured at her to come inside. She looked down the hallway and followed, not ceasing her line of questioning. "What's going on, Kelly? What's so private that you need to take me to the roof and get rid of Syx to talk about it?"

"In order: I was picking the lock, I learned to pick them from some of my uncles, the kit was a gift from one of the aforementioned uncles, and I brought you here because I need to explain why we can't date." He choked a bit on the last phrase. His eyes were suspiciously moist.

Maria's heart shattered. "What?" she whispered.

"It's not you," he mumbled as they continued up the stairs. "It's me." He smiled bitterly. "Of course it is. That's what they always say, isn't it?" They had reached the door to the rooftop. Kelly pushed it open, and they ambled out into the sunshine. He hadn't been exaggerating; it truly was a beautiful day.

"But in this case, it really is me. I can't date _anyone,_ Maria_._ I just… I just can't." He wiped at his eyes.

Maria's shoulders shook. _Get a grip, girl! _she ordered herself. _You're not one of those people who just fall apart like this._ But when she spoke, her voice trembled even more than her shoulders. "Why not?"

Kelly hung his head. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached for his left wrist- or, more accurately, the watch on his left wrist. It was an expensive watch, a fancy one, with lightning bolt hands and a sleek shape. His fingers ran across it, very lightly, before pausing.

He met her eyes. "Promise you won't scream?"

She nodded, numb.

Face twisting, Kelly took off the watch.

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then blue light washed over him, changing his shape. When it cleared, it revealed someone who was but wasn't Kelly.

Fish fins- enormous green fish fins- stuck out from the sides of his head. He had no ears, just the thick, scaly fins. His hair was a strange combination of color- at the roots, it was a deep green. It lightened through pale green to a color that was not quite blue, not quite mint green at the tips- which were glowing. Very faintly, but the tips were _glowing_. The hair trailed almost to his shoulders, where he had tied it into two braids. His features had altered subtly- or perhaps it was an illusion cast by the fins- lending them an alien cast. A small metal antenna poked through his strangely colored hair.

Kelly opened his gold-brown eyes and forced a nervous grin. Maria's eyes gravitated to his teeth- because _holy guacamole,_ those were TEETH!

In a high-pitched, squeaky voice, her crush said, "Oh, good. You're not screaming." He gulped. "Um… surprise!"

* * *

><p><em>September 19, 1999 <em>

Metro Dude's hand tightened around his standard-issue school cup, crushing it to dust. Pepsi trickled out from between his fingers.

Roxanne Ritchie: ace journalist for the school paper, future reporter. Roxanne Ritchie: popular, pretty, intelligent, charming, funny. Roxanne Ritchie: the perfect date for a perfect hero. Roxanne Ritchie: _his_ girl.

She and that nerdy little blond kid were dancing around their table like a pair of lunatics. He could hear them laughing from across the cafeteria even without his enhanced senses.

As he watched, Syx (what kind of retarded name was that? And why did it seem so dang familiar?) slowed their mad caper. He glanced down at his hands. For a moment he seemed pensive. Metro Dude smiled. Good. Evidently the little brat had realized just whose girl he was poaching.

His ears _shifted_ as his super-hearing kicked into place. "What's wrong?" he heard Roxanne wonder.

Metro Dude waited for Syx to explain that he'd overstepped himself, that they couldn't be together because she belonged to him. But the skinny blond just smiled weakly and said, "Nothing."

Rage boiled Wayne's blood. Humiliate him? Knowingly steal his girl and laugh? He was tempted to swoop down and make Roxie realize the error of her ways- and Syx the error of his- but reigned in the impulse. He was the hero. Heroes didn't beat the living snot out of innocents, no matter how much they wanted to. Villains, yes, but not civilians.

Except he didn't have a villain.

Metro Dude thought back to his kindergarten days, when he'd been called Metro Boy. There had been a villain then, an ugly blue freak with his mutant talking fish. Those had been good times, a foretaste of his glorious destiny.

But then the freak had been stolen by the government halfway through March, and Wayne hadn't seen him since. He had no doubt that the weirdo would escape eventually. Hopefully the experience would make him take his villainous career more seriously. The blue kid, dubbed "Megamind" because of his enormous head, had actually thought that _he was a good guy._ Hopefully the nice people at Area 51 would disillusion him.

But the freak and his fish were who-knows-where, and he had no villain to take out his frustrations on. Only Syx, who was a civilian and not to be harmed. Nerdy as he was, he was normal, not a freak like villains were.

"That Syx kid is so weird," commented his friend Brian. The jock was Wayne's second: second-best athlete, vice president, always taking placing behind him in competitions. It should have made him jealous of the larger boy, but he was content to wait in Metro Dude's shadow. He was completely loyal, completely dedicated to the super's cause. His goal in life was to become chief of police, to support the future hero even more.

"I like him." Albert was the third-best player on their team. He and Brian loathed each other. "He and his brother pulled me through bio last year, and they said they'll tutor me in chem. They're in the AP class with you, right Metro Dude?"

"Right," he grunted.

"Looks like he and- um, what's her name again?"

"Roxanne Ritchie," Metro Dude growled.

"Yeah, Roxanne Ritchie. Looks like they're getting along really well." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Wayne fixed him with a glare. Albert was suddenly uncomfortably aware that the super could shoot lasers from his eyes. He gulped. "Oh, right. Um… how dare he steal your girl?"

The mood at the table changed. Metro Dude wanted the girl. Syx had the girl. Therefore Metro Dude did not. Therefore Syx was an enemy.

The jocks heaped abuse upon his appearance (scrawny blond runt), family (What kind of gay name is Kelly anyways?), intelligence (must be cheating or something on all those tests), and moral fiber (teacher's pet, ungrateful slime, thief). Wayne listened silently- heroes weren't supposed to insult anyone but villains.

Then, when lunch was almost over, conversation became more serious. Syx had blasphemed their school's god. For that, he must suffer.

Their plan was simple: follow him and his brother as they walked home, then jump him. "And we should jump his gay brother too," Brian added. The others nodded, agreeing that attacking Kelly too was an obvious next step. His protectiveness of Syx was legendary; he would fight back even if they didn't explicitly attack him.

Metro Dude's conscience pricked at him. He knew he should put a stop to this… but Roxanne was _his_. Syx was nothing. Still, to silence the softly protesting part of himself, he ordered, "Make sure to warn them first."

The jocks looked at him in amazed awe. "You're an amazing person, Mets," declared Brian, thumping him on the back. "The dude steals your girl, and you still look out for him? What a hero!"

The sentiment echoed all around their table: "What a hero!"

* * *

><p><em>September 19, 1999<em>

Albert grabbed Syx and Kelly the second they left their sixth hour class. "A bunch of the guys are gonna jump you today," he told them in a low voice. "It's 'cuz of Roxanne and Syx being together. Take the bus or something home, okay?" And he jogged off before anyone saw him warning them.

It took the brothers several seconds to process what had just happened. As one, they turned to face the other.

"This is bad," Kelly observed, forcing aside his thoughts about Maria. He wasn't sure which was worse: avoiding her, as he had done all summer and the end of last spring, or their new "just friends" non-romantic policy. Having her so close and so unobtainable was downright agonizing. The senior was almost glad for this distraction of impending violence. "What do we do?"

Syx's brow furrowed. "One of three things. Either we avoid them and sneak home, fight back, or let them beat us." He touched his watch. It was identical to his brother's timepiece. "We probably shouldn't let them do that."

His brother shuddered. "I don't think that sneaking away would be very practical. They'd just try again tomorrow, and then they might bring Metro Dude."

Now it was Syx's turn to shudder. "So we're going to fight, then?"

Kelly nodded. His lips were set in a grim line. "Looks like it."

They could _probably _take up to ten students. Jocks might be strong, but the Auslander brothers knew how to fight. Syx had been trained in street fighting since he could walk. Kelly's training had started later in life, but he was no less skilled than his brother. At age twelve, he'd managed to smuggle several videos on martial arts into their home, which the siblings had watched together in the dead of night.

However, there were some things they simply couldn't fight against. Too many attackers would overwhelm them through the sheer force of numbers. If Metro Dude showed up, all their training would be useless. Worse than useless, even- the super might start wondering just why two scrawny, nerdy boys could beat up half the football team. That would lead to questions that no one should think about, much less ask.

Well, except Maria. Kelly's face drained of color as another, uglier thought occurred to him.

"What's wrong?" Syx demanded.

"I told Maria that she could walk home with us today. She has a bunch of questions about…." He hesitated. No one seemed to be listening in on their talk, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. "…about what I told her in the spring. She's had all summer to come up with things to ask."

"I don't suppose you could call a rain check?" Syx groaned.

"Nope. You know how curious she is."

The blond rubbed his temples.

They had reached their classroom, so they turned their conversation into something inane. "What part do you want in the fall play, Kelly?"

"Don't know yet. Are you trying out too?"

Their last two periods passed in a blur of tension. They scouted out their classmates, searching for anyone who might be in on the attack. They managed to identify three people and eliminate two others, but both knew that many more were involved.

Maria met them and Roxanne at the front door. It was obvious that she was bursting with questions, but she knew better than to talk in front of Syx's new girlfriend.

Kelly groaned softly. Of course Miss Ritchie didn't know about their _peculiarities_. Syx had asked her out purely on impulse, without telling her exactly what she was getting into. The senior really did love his brother, but he could be so _dense_ sometimes.

Well, he decided, Syx could tell her soon enough. He thought that the journalist would take it quite well. She was an outspoken proponent of not judging books by their covers. She wouldn't freak out over their _peculiarities._

Actually, she probably would freak out. But she'd get over it fairly quickly, and she definitely wouldn't dump him.

But for now, she was out of the loop. Maria knew this, so she bit back her important questions and started chattering on about her day. She always babbled when she was nervous.

"So he gave you the just friends speech?" Roxanne did not sound impressed.

"It's better than him avoiding me," Maria replied. "And I think I can wear him down."

Kelly noticed a sudden pressure on his hand. Blinking, he looked down and realized that Maria was squeezing it. He wondered how long she'd been holding it.

"You're busted," the senior muttered, gently disengaging her grip. Maria looked hurt. He flinched, sighed, and took hold of her hand again.

"I give him a month," Roxanne declared, eyeing Kelly critically.

"I think it will take longer," Syx disagreed. "He's awfully stubborn, you know. I give it until Christmas."

"Wanna bet?"

"Can we change the subject?" Kelly snapped.

"No need," Roxanne interjected. "We're here." She pushed open her apartment doors.

They dropped her off at her family's threshold before heading out through the stairs. The second they were out of everyone's earshot, Maria exploded. "How do those watches work? Is Syx like you too? How in the world did you get here?" She undoubtedly had more, but Kelly silenced her.

"We have a problem," he confessed.

The other senior's eyes went wide. "What kind of problem? Is it about-" she gestured furiously at their watches "-_you know_- that? Are you sick? Is-"

"We're fine," her crush interjected. He related Albert's warning to her in a few succinct words. "Syx and I know how to fight. We have to- we were raised in a prison, for the Clan Founders' sake."

"You were raised in prison?" she repeated blankly.

"Long story," Syx sighed. "The point is that we need you to… I don't want to say 'stay out of the way,' but we need you to not get involved."

Her eyes were very wide. "You're getting in a fight? That's a really bad idea. Just call security."

"They'll just try again tomorrow," Kelly groaned. "We have to nip this in the bud. The longer they come after us, the more danger we're in." He touched his watch.

Maria's shoulders slumped. "Are you sure you'll be okay, though?"

"Promise," he replied, and wished he were man enough to kiss her.

* * *

><p>Originally I wasn't going to tell you what Minion looks like yet, but since none of you are fooled by my clever bamboozling… why not? A lot of inspiration for his new design was taken from MadJesters on deviantART, as was Maria's name. Consider their romance a tribute to her comics.<p>

-Corona


	5. Bullies

_September 19, 1999 _

When Roxanne heard the knocking at the door, she assumed that Syx or Maria had doubled back to discuss Kelly's upcoming birthday party. So when she opened the door, the last person she expected to find was Metro Dude. The super was floating at the threshold, clutching a bouquet of roses in his signature white and gold. "Nice to see you, Roxie," he said, shoving the flowers into her hand. "Mind if I come in?"

"Actually, yes."

"Don't be silly, Roxanne!" exclaimed her mother. The girl shot her a pleading look, but it was too late. Metro Dude swaggered into her apartment.

"I really can't accept these," she announced loudly, brandishing the bouquet back at him. "I'm dating Syx Auslander now, so I really can't take flowers from another guy."

His smile faded. "You sure about that, Roxie? You two don't seem like a good fit."

"Your concern has been noted," she growled, "but it's really none of your business who I date." She turned away, opened the door to the garbage can.

Wayne stopped her before she could dump the flowers inside. "What's so special about Syx?" he demanded. "Why him?"

"For one thing, he understand that I'm a human being with thoughts, feelings, and opinions of my own. He knows that I'm not a prize to be won. He treats me like an equal, not a trophy that he should have won already. He sees _me_, not the one that got away."

Metro Dude had abandoned all pretense. "_I _see you, Roxie."

"What's my favorite color?" she demanded. The super pulled up short, blinked in confusion. "Why do I want to become a reporter? What was my favorite fairytale as a kid? Where is my sister going to college? How old is my brother? What do my parents do for a living?"

His brow furrowed in thought. "Your favorite color is… white." For once in his life, he sounded uncertain, unhappy.

"Wrong. It's blue. Robin's-egg blue."

"Your favorite fairytale…." He paused, thought. "It's 'Cinderella.'"

"'Beauty and the Beast,'" she corrected him. "Though right now, 'The Emperor's New Clothes' is a close second."

Metro Dude didn't understand her veiled insult, of course. Syx would have. He would have laughed and bantered back, citing obscure stories from every corner of the globe. He was the only person she knew who could recite the Swedish 'Prince Lindworm' or Russia's 'Snegurochka.'

"Do you want to try again?" she demanded.

His jaw tightened. She could see that he was considering it. Then he growled out, "Does Syx know this stuff?"

"Of course," Roxanne replied. "Syx actually knows me."

Metro Dude scowled and sulked out the door. He didn't close it behind him, too angry to control his strength. Roxanne took care of that for him, slamming it as hard as she could. She grabbed the roses and tossed them in the garbage.

Her defiance wouldn't last long, the super knew. Tomorrow Syx would break up with her, and his arms would be warm and welcoming. One way or another, Roxanne Ritchie would be his.

* * *

><p><em>September 19, 1999 <em>

Eight to one. Eight jocks, each accustomed to hard labor on the football field, each larger than Kelly and especially Syx. Outnumbered four to one.

And yet, Maria mused, waiting (like a _coward_, spat a voice in her mind) around the corner, sneaking horrified peaks into the alley the football team had entered with her friends, the dum-dums don't look that concerned. Could they not _count?_ She'd thought they were smarter than that.

"You've been poaching another guy's girl," said the largest and scariest of the attackers, a senior named Brian.

"Don't you think it's Roxanne's choice if she dates me or not?" Syx arched a delicate blond eyebrow. His voice was confident, calm, collected. Beside him, Kelly shot a quick glare at Maria. The girl flinched and jerked away.

They'd argued for several minutes before agreeing to let her act as backup. If things went badly, she would run for help from Roxanne's doorman. She knew, logically, that it was a good plan. She had no fighting skills. She'd be a liability to them, forcing them to divide their attention between defending themselves and keeping her safe. That didn't make it easier.

She looked back into the alley, unable to help herself.

"Just stay away from her," Brian growled, grabbing the much smaller boy by the shoulders.

"Let him go," Kelly growled softly. His chin was tucked, his fists clenched. Suddenly the thought that he could take on these smug, muscular athletes seemed much more plausible.

The jock's fist drew back. He thrust it forward in a punch-

-and Syx flung the older boy, who was almost a foot taller than him, who was probably twice his weight, over his shoulder and into the wall. Kelly snapped a kick at the fallen jock's head, rendering him unconscious.

"If Roxanne chooses to date Metro Dude, I won't hold her back," the younger brother proclaimed. "Is it too much to ask for him to return the courtesy? Because sending a group of thugs after two scrawny nerds seems to me like an attempt to meddle in our relationship." He pressed his hands together, fingertip to fingertip. "Should we continue this, or are you going to see sense and leave?"

"I would recommend seeing sense," Kelly quipped. Maria's lips twitched.

Two of the more sensible jocks, boys whose names she didn't know, saw sense. They backed out of the alley, hands in the classic gesture of pacification. The other five charged.

They didn't stand a chance. Syx and Kelly had the skill of street fighters and the finesse of Hollywood martial artists. The brothers were perfectly coordinated. Each seemed an extension of the other's body, connected by some invisible cord.

Punch, kick, somersault under an attacker's legs. As the jock in question turned to gawk at Kelly's escape, Syx kicked him in the gut, using the momentum to bounce back into another oncoming assailant. His brother rebounded off the wall and, almost delicately, pressed his fingers into the boy's shoulder. The jock collapsed.

Another athlete realized that they stood no chance. He sprinted out of the alley, nearly colliding with the gaping Maria. She stared after him for several seconds before returning her attention to the battle. In the time she'd looked away, the Auslanders had already defeated another enemy. Only two remained.

One on one, the remnants of the football team didn't stand a chance. A few kicks and punches sent them running, abandoning their unconscious comrades.

"Fist pump!" cackled Syx. "Never mess with the kids who grew up in prison!"

Kelly glanced nervously at the comatose bullies. They were still out cold. Nonetheless he chided, "You shouldn't blurt that stuff out where anyone can hear it, Syx." The younger boy blushed.

Maria's mouth worked soundlessly. Then the questions erupted from her mouth. "So you really did grow up in prison? Why in the world would anyone do that? How old were you when you got there? Isn't that illegal? Why are you coming to school if you live in prison?"

"We'll tell you when we get home," Kelly promised. He prodded Brian's body with his toe. The jock didn't respond. "But we should probably tell Miss Ritchie's doorman what happened. I think they might need medical attention."

"I'll go," Maria told them, leaping at the chance to do _something_ useful.

The doorman seemed more amused than anything. He kept looking from Syx's scrawniness to the jocks' bulk and smirking. "That'll teach them to pick on kids who're smaller than them."

"Maybe," Kelly shrugged.

They resumed their walk home- which apparently really was the Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted. The imposing building loomed over them.

Just before reaching the prison, the Auslander brothers turned aside to a small building. It was a dilapidated little schoolhouse. Its red paint had chipped, revealing the bare wood beneath. The windows were filthy. The sides were overrun with cobwebs.

"I thought you lived a few… buildings… down?" Maria asked.

Kelly opened the door. The schoolhouse's interior was just as run-down as its outside. Save for a chalkboard on the far wall, it was completely empty. "We do," he mumbled. "The thing is, Maria… they don't know how we attend school."

She stared. "You're kidding, right?"

"…Uh, no." He fidgeted. "They don't know that the holo-watches exist, much less that we've been using them to impersonate regular human beings pretty much every day for the past year."

_Regular human beings. _She knew how Kelly really looked, but she hadn't seen him _like that_ since that day last May. She'd never seen Syx without his hologram at all.

Kelly hesitated, then grit his teeth and tore off his watch. The blue light flickered around him, altering his shape. When it cleared, his true form stood revealed.

The senior's eyes were squeezed shut, just as they had been last spring. Maria reached out, took his hand. His eyes flickered open. He grinned shyly, and though it was a much toothier grin than she was used to, it was still _Kelly's_ grin. "Non-aggression pact," he reminded her.

His fellow senior snorted. She had no intention of keeping that truce, and they both knew it. She was a woman on a mission, and she was going to carry it out.

"Your turn, Syx," his brother said.

Maria turned. The younger brother was ramrod-straight, stiff as oak. His too-green eyes darted from her to his brother. His hand had frozen over the watch's controls. "I look- _different_- than Kelly," he squeaked.

"It's fine," his brother assured him. He patted the younger boy's shoulder. "Think of it as a practice run for when you explain this to Roxanne."

"About that," he gulped, "do I really need to tell her?"

"Yes." Kelly's tone brooked no room for argument. "We made a deal, Syx. If we ever fell in love with someone, we would tell them about all this." He gestured at himself. "And the longer you wait, the harder it gets." He smiled ruefully. "Trust me, I speak from experience."

Maria smirked. Fell in love, eh? She could deal with that.

Syx flinched away. Then, like his brother before him, he took off the watch.

* * *

><p><em>July 12, 1998 <em>

"Your ears are twitching."

Kelly blinked stupidly, not really comprehending the words. He was too taken aback by Syx's new appearance. "You're_ blond._"

"I know," said the human boy who looked nothing like Syx. His face was round, not pointed; his head covered in an unruly mop of thick yellow hair. Only the vivid green eyes remained the same. "You're blond too, didn't you see that?"

But it was so unnerving to see those eyes in that round white face that Kelly couldn't help himself. He probed through their bond- not hard, just enough to ascertain that his partner really was right there in front of him. Syx's presence flared in his mind. Kelly probed a bit deeper, feeling out his friend's strongest emotions. The boy was proud as a peacock, but also jittery.

"Your ears are twitching," he repeated.

The older boy blinked and raised a hand to his ear- his round, human ear. Somehow or other, the hologram had changed the very shape of his body. He couldn't feel his fin at all. It was an ear, identical to a thousand other ears, and it was swaying back and forth. He tensed, and the motion stopped. "Problem solved. Why are we blond? You're probably going to get black hair like your father had."

"I don't want to be recognized," was the blunt response. "Scott at least knows my real face. I need to look as different as possible." He cracked a smile. "But I don't think we have to worry about him recognizing you."

"Probably not, sir."

"Don't call me that!" Syx yelped. He glanced around their bathroom as though afraid of being discovered by someone lurking behind the shower curtain. "You're my older brother, remember? Brothers don't call brothers sir."

"Yes, si-s-Syx." He grimaced. "That was really weird."

"Your ears are twitching again."

Kelly yelped and clutched at his head. "I'll have to work on that," he mumbled. "But these holograms are amazing, Syx."

The blond boy who was his partner grinned. The expression was so quintessentially _Syx_ that Kelly released his hold on their bond. He couldn't sense the other's emotions or presence any more, but he didn't need to. "I compiled the images from various shots of the guards and our uncles. It took a while to de-age them to a teenage visage, but- your ears are twitching again!"

Kelly forced them to stay still. "I'll work on that, too, sir- Syx."

"We should tie a belt around your fins," the now-blond decided.

His partner folded his arms. "No thanks." Last time he had let someone put something onto his body, he'd had to wear headgear for two years. It had gotten rid of his under bite, but he had hated every minute of it and had no desire to repeat the experience.

"Your ears are twitching again," Syx informed him. "We need to break the habit somehow. Human ears don't twitch like that! We're tying that belt around your head whether you like it or not."

They argued for a few minutes more, but the decision had been made the second Syx put his foot down. His partner- no, they were brothers now, Syx and Kelly Auslander- was too used to submitting to the younger's whims.

He was stuck with the belt all summer, but it was worth it. When September rolled around, no one could tell that the Auslander brothers weren't entirely human.

* * *

><p>I love Minion, but he's a bit of a pushover- at least when it comes to his boss. Those jocks probably don't think he's a pushover. And Maria probably wishes he was more of a pushover. That way they'd be dating already. Remind me to write a description of her for the next chapter. I have her picture in my head, but I haven't really gotten it out there yet.<p>

Some very important details were revealed in this chapter. How many of them can you spot?

-Corona


	6. Piscines and Prisoners

_June 9, 1993 _

The outdated issue of _Scientific American_ dropped through the boy's suddenly limp hands onto the ground. His eyes, an almost acidic shade of green, bulged with shock and horror. He blinked once, twice, then shrieked out "Warden!" and charged through the door of the prison library.

"Warden!" he yowled. "Doctor Philber! Come quick!"

They came quick. Their ward did have a tendency to make mountains out of molehills, but something about this seemed different. The child was terrified.

"Hurry hurry hurry!" he yelled, grabbing the two adults by their hands. "He's hurt, I think he's dying!" He choked, trying to drag the much heavier males to the car. "Hurry hurry hurry!"

"Not so fast, champ," the warden interrupted. "What's going on?"

"Don't know, but he's hurt! Please, we've gotta hurry!"

"Where is he?" asked Marv Philber, the prison's physician. He didn't ask who 'he' might be. There was only one person who could cause such distress in the child.

The boy hadn't stopped dragging them- or at least trying to. "Far away. We need a car. I'll tell you on the way, okay? Just hurry!" He fixed them with his big moist puppy-dog eyes.

Warden Lee Ridgeway had dealt with hardened criminals for over twenty years now. He could withstand threats, pleas, and curses- but only a monster could say no to those eyes. "I'll drive," he announced, allowing the boy to drag him away.

The child twitched frantically in the backseat of the car. He knew, intellectually at least, that the car was faster than he could ever be. But that didn't stop every cell in his body from screaming that he should run, run, run to his first and only friend.

"He's by the lake, somewhere up north." He forced himself to concentrate on the bond between them, the bond that carried location and pain and emotion. "I think… something like eight miles away."

The car pulled out of the parking lot. Philber craned his neck to look at the child. "That bond thing of yours lets you feel his pain, right?"

Even now, panicked as he was, the boy felt a spark of irritation. "Of course I can't feel his pain. If I could, we'd both be inca-incappi- helpless right now. I know _that_ he's in pain, but I can't do anything about it unless we're actually touching." He sniffled. "And I wasn't even focusing on him when the pain hit. It just showed up. That means he's hurting really bad." His lower lip quivered. It looked as though he would start bawling any second.

"Messerosyx." The doctor spoke his name slowly and clearly, enunciating every syllable. "You can't help him if you're hysterical. I need you to use that incredible bond of yours to try and find out what exactly is wrong."

The boy gulped several times before nodding. Tears trickled from his eyes. "I don't know what's wrong. He- he hurts everywhere, but…." He grit his teeth, blinked away tears. "I think it's worst in his bones."

Philber glanced at the medical supplies he'd hastily assembled. "You're sure it's not muscle?" An injury to his muscles could imply some kind of attack by a lamprey or pike. He didn't know what pain centered in the skeleton might mean.

"I'm sure," the boy replied. His voice was stronger now, more purposeful. "But the muscles hurt too. And he's unconscious, so he can't do anyth- oh!" A huge smile split his face. "It's better now. He still hurts, but it's stopped."

"What's stopped?" the physician demanded.

His ward shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, but it's stopped. Warden, turn here."

The problem with their link was that it only gave general directions, not full-fledged road maps with the route marked out in yellow highlighter. It took them half an hour before the boy shouted at them to stop.

Ridgeway slammed on the breaks. The child unbuckled his seatbelt and leapt out the door before his vehicle finished stopping. "Reckless idiot," the warden muttered. Despite his words, though, he didn't take the keys out of the ignition before vaulting out of the car and charging after his ward. Philber followed, though his weight made him somewhat slower.

The child crested a small rise, disappearing as he descended. Ridgeway reached the top just as his ward collapsed to his knees. "Kelluerai!" the boy yowled, shaking….

….that was not Kelluerai.

Lee stopped. His jaw hung slack in a most undignified manner. He had no clue who that kid was, but he was _not_ Kelly. Kelly was a fish. This very human boy, stark naked except for a towel wrapped around his waist, was definitely not a fish. It was as simple as that.

Except that Syx, who was paired to his partner in ways mere humans could scarcely comprehend, was shaking the naked boy's shoulders and screaming at him to wake up. And the piscine's monkey suit, which he used to walk on dry land, was _right there._

So that meant that the other kid, the one with weird hair and- were those fish fins sticking out of his head?

Philber, who had been standing beside him for several stunned moments, closed the warden's mouth. "We don't get paid enough for this."

* * *

><p><em>September 19, 1999 <em>

"Congrats, fish-man!" the convict yelled, slapping Kelly on the shoulder. "You found yourself a pretty one."

The piscine blushed. His uncle was right about the pretty part- no one could look at Maria's almost-black hair, almond-shaped hazel eyes, or the features she had inherited from her half-Vietnamese mother and call her anything else. However, that didn't mean the human was entirely correct. "We're not dating, Uncle Lefty."

The prisoner winked slyly. "_Right. _But I'm not her daddy. You don't have to lie to me."

"Actually, he's telling the truth," Syx corrected. "Though that will change any day now." He grinned widely. "But I'm dating Roxanne Ritchie now! Fist pump!"

"She pretty too?" asked Lefty's cellmate.

As Syx bubbled about how gorgeous Roxanne was, inside and out, Maria's mind wandered. She was sitting in a mess hall prison with a blue kid and a fish-thing, talking with their beloved uncles and eating shapeless goop that tasted even worse than cafeteria food at school.

Life was strange.

She thought of the stories they had told her, tales of dead stars and government kidnappings and super-powered bullies. But the story which spoke to her the most was the one about Kelly, eleven years old and terrified, giving up literally everything he'd ever known to keep his brother safe. She wondered if he even remembered how to think selfishly. Probably not.

He had told her about being born a fish solely to freak her out, to make her less interested, and they both knew it. Even Syx, clueless as he was with regards to romance, knew it. But while it was definitely strange to think that Kelly hadn't been born in his current body, the story of how he'd acquired that new form was one of the bravest she'd ever heard.

In other words, the plan had backfired.

And speaking of bodies… it was so odd to see them like this. Kelly's face wasn't very different, though it had acquired a slightly alien cast. Of course, the fins and antenna sticking out of his head, his greenish too-thick hair, and the immense teeth he displayed whenever he smiled were a lot weirder.

Syx's new (no, not new; he'd always been like this) form was even more bizarre. The boy sitting next to her, blissfully listing a thousand good things about Roxanne Ritchie, looked absolutely nothing like the Syx she knew at school.

But that wasn't quite true, was it? This boy had the same eyes, the same dancing face, the same vibrant energy. It was hard to see the resemblance, especially when his eyes were directed elsewhere, but the resemblance was definitely there. Sort of.

"Who's your friend, boys?"

Maria looked up to see an older man with a neatly trimmed gray beard. His brown eyes were kind and surrounded by wrinkles.

"This is our friend Maria," Kelly introduced her. "Maria, this is Dr. Lance Philber. He's been taking care of us for almost fifteen years."

The entire table erupted in laughter and applause. Several uncles trotted over to slap Kelly on the back. The piscine shrank back into his chair, blushing furiously.

"There's a story here, isn't there," Maria noted. She marveled inwardly at how comfortable she was with these men, the kind of people she would normally go out of her way to avoid. But the Auslanders trusted them, and she trusted the Auslanders.

But there was no way she was telling her father about them. He would ground her until her thirtieth birthday and never allow her to see either of the brothers ever again.

"Kelly's the one who got me my job," the doctor explained.

"Please don't," he groaned.

Philber ignored him. "The doctor a few years back was a lady named Donna Riasanovsky. She-"

"El Piranha tried to bite off three of her finger!" blurted Uncle Miguel, a drug lord who was in Metro City because no one could prove that he was an illegal immigrant. The criminal hooted with laughter and slapped the table.

Maria dropped her fork. "Wait, what? Why do they- oh, duh, it's because of your teeth and you being born a fish and stuff like that. But you bit the other doctor's fingers? How did that happen? Were you delusional or something? Were you sick?"

"She talks a lot," observed Uncle Lefty.

The girl forced her mouth to stop moving. It was hard. Talking was a good way to fight off nerves and shock, and she was definitely shocked right now. Kelly had almost bitten off someone's _fingers?_

"She started it," he mumbled, staring into a glob of what was supposedly creamed corn.

Maria clamped a hand over her mouth. If she hadn't, she would have asked something stupid.

"He only did it because Riasanovsky was trying to vivisect me," Syx reassured her. "That's like dissection, but you're still alive."

…there were so many things wrong with that sentence….

"I remember that," Miguel reminisced. "Heard some screamin', so I punched one of my guards' lights out and went to check it out. Blue here was tied down to an examination table with a videotape recordin' everything. The ol' doc was shrieking her head off, and there on her hand was this p-oed fish gnawin' away." He nodded sagely. "Do _not _mess with El Piranha."

"Those teeth do more than just look good," agreed Lefty. "If he'd wanted to, Fishy here could've bitten 'em all the way off. Those teeth are sharp."

"Gimme your fork," a third uncle ordered him. "We gotta do the fork trick now!"

"Yeah, we need the fork trick."

"Not the fork trick," Kelly moaned, but his uncles ignored him.

"Fork, fork, fork, fork!" the prisoners chanted.

"I hate the fork trick! Do you guys have any idea how disgusting it tastes? And it takes forever to get it out of my mouth."

"Fork, fork, fork, fork!" Yet another uncle, Billy Bob, forced his fork into Kelly's hand. "Fork, fork, fork, fork!" The chant had spread to other tables. The entire prison's attention was on them. Even the cooks and servers had poked their heads out of the kitchen. "Fork, fork, fork, fork!"

The ichthyoid, accustomed to following orders, caved. "All right already!" he yelled. Scowling, he climbed to the top of his chair. "Behold the fork trick," he grumbled, brandishing the utensil in question. Then he brought it to his mouth and bit down. The utensil split in half. Kelly circled, showing the destroyed silverware to everyone in the cafeteria.

The crowd went wild. Prisoners cheered, clapped, thumped their tables. Rolling his eyes, Kelly sat.

"That never gets old!" Miguel exulted. "You see that, girly? He bit that in half _with his teeth_." He grabbed the fork from Kelly's hands and showed it to her. Sure enough, there were bite marks on it. "Solid metal, girly."

"I wish I could do that," muttered Lefty.

"He could probably chew through the bars on my cell," the drug lord continued.

"Not going to happen," the ichthyoid muttered. He shoved a large forkful of inedible food into his mouth, swallowed, and muttered, "Those things taste so bad."

"And that stuff doesn't?" Maria asked, gesturing to his food.

"Look at it this way," he replied, "I grew up eating fish flakes. If it tastes better than fish food, I like it."

"So forks don't taste better than fish food?" This was undoubtedly the strangest conversation Maria had ever had.

"They're worse."

"I'll take your word for it."

* * *

><p><em>September 5, 1989 <em>

Wayne Scott twirled the desk, floating several feet above the ground. His teacher, who was still on the desk, laughed with excitement. The children cheered, just like they would when he was grown up and a real hero, with a real villain and everything.

The door creaked open. Wayne sped up his twirling, hoping to impress another sycophant- ah, classmate. Then he saw exactly what had crossed the threshold. He froze.

Its head was enormous and completely hairless. It had even less hair than his wrinkly old grandfather! It was dressed in a garish orange jumpsuit that hung off its skinny frame, making it look even smaller and skinnier than it actually was. Its hands, which were chained together at the wrist, clutched a sphere with a weird-looking fish inside. The fish had enormous fangs and it was glowing. What kind of weird kid brought a glowing fish to school?

But none of these traits stood out as much as its skin color. The… thing… was blue. Bright, unnatural blue, like robins' eggs or the sky. Blue like a villain.

The guards who had accompanied it inside removed the chains and left, leaving their charge (and his pet) alone.

"Hi!" the blue kid yelled, oblivious to its classmates' stunned horror. "My name's S-"

Wayne flew over to him, towered above him. Green eyes went wide. "Hey, I know you. You're-"

"I'm Metro Boy," he proclaimed, pulling the name out of the ether. "And you are Megamind. My nemesis."

* * *

><p>Yes, there were two flashbacks in this chapter. It's because the next few updates will take place in the present day.<p>

Kelluerai: kel-lu-e-reye, major emphasis on lu, minor emphasis on reye (which rhymes with eye). The 'e' in the middle is pronounced short, as in 'wet' or 'fed.'

Messerosyx: mes-sair-row-syx, major emphasis on sair (rhymes with air), minor emphasis on syx.

The name Philber is taken from an incomplete fic by b7-kerravon called "Aftermath."

This chapter is dedicated to aurawind and margoteve.


	7. Birthday Presents

_September 20, 1999 _

_You should tell her. _Kelly's voice echoed in Syx's mind. _The longer you wait, the harder it gets. Tell her today on your date. _

Except, the younger boy rationalized, he couldn't. They had other things to talk about- namely, his brother's birthday.

"Can I hide my present in your parking garage?" he asked.

"Of course," Roxanne replied. "What is it?"

He wagged a finger at her. "It's a surprise."

"For Kelly, not me," she replied. "Come on, Syx, you can tell me."

He laughed nervously, changed the subject. "I need to order the cake today. Do you know any good grow-cherry stores?"

"Grocery stores," she corrected him, "and don't worry about it. Mom's going to the store tomorrow. I'll just ask her to place an order. Kelly likes marble cake, right?"

"If it's cake, he likes it," Syx assured her. "Get chocolate. He likes it, I like it, the guests like it, and it's your favorite. Just make sure you get the good kind of frosting, not that awful whippy stuff they put on cakes now."

"Chocolate cake, good frosting," she confirmed. "Any particular patterns?" She smirked. "Maybe I should get him a fish cake."

Syx choked on his own saliva. "Fish cake?" he squeaked. How did she know? How had she found out? And who else knew? His stomach clenched in terror. Did _Metro Dude _know?

"Why should you get him a fish cake? In fact, fish cakes sound gross. Why would you want to eat a cake with a fish in it? I know, I know," He waved away her objections, "it's not that kind of fish cake, but doesn't the concept of fish cakes just gross you out? Disgusting, that they are. Ha, ha. But seriously, Roxanne, why do you want to get him a fish cake?" Sweat trickled down his forehead, hidden by the illusion of blond hair.

"You know, ichthyoid, fish." She was giving him a very concerned look. "Are you okay, Syx?"

_You should tell her._

No! He remembered those awful months in kindergarten. He remembered the derisive laughter, the jeering, the unrelenting hate. He remembered the kidnapping attempt, the endless games of dodge ball, the caviar and sushi and _War of the Worlds_ and dodge-the-fish-ball. He remembered the disgust in his classmates' eyes when they first looked at his undisguised form. He imagined that disgust in Roxanne's eyes and cringed.

He could not bear to see that in Roxanne's face. And the second he removed his watch, the second he revealed his true form, he would.

"I'm fine," he giggled. "Get a fish cake! Just make sure it doesn't have any actual fish."

She stared, completely silent. "…Okay then. No fish."

"No fish," Syx agreed, nodding fervently. "Now that we've got Kelly's party all planned out, would you like to go for a walk? It's a beautiful day out."

"It is," Roxanne agreed. She raised her voice. "Mom, Syx and I are going to the park!"

"Have fun," Mrs. Ritchie called.

As they walked to the park, Roxanne brought up another topic that had been bothering her. "Did you notice that half the football team wasn't in school today?"

Syx nodded, unable to keep the smug smile from his face. His girlfriend arched a brow. "Okay, what do you know about it that I don't?"

"Metro Dude sent them after me and Kelly yesterday," he explained.

"All five of them?"

"Eight, actually," he boasted, puffing out his skinny chest.

"Okay, what really happened?"

He glared. "That did so happen! Kelly and I kicked buttocks!"

"Kicked butt," she corrected him, "or a less polite adjective. But there's no way you two beat up half the football team. You might not have noticed, Syx, but you're a toothpick." She poked at his arm. "And somehow I can't imagine _Kelly_ beating someone up. Besides, have you seen how enormous those guys are? They look like poster boys for steroid advertisers."

"And that was their fatal mistake," Syx sniffed.

"What, not being toothpicks?"

"No. Underestimating us. You don't need ridiculously bulgy muscles to fight. I know martial arts." He listed them off on his fingers. "Tae kwon do, jujitsu, karate, judo, hapkido…. I need another hand."

"I see. And what are your belt levels in all those?"

He blushed. "We don't actually have belts," he confessed. "Kelly found some martial arts home videos- I'm still not sure how- and we practice a bit every day. I don't know what belt levels we'd be at, but we really do know how to fight."

"Show me," she dared him.

By this time they had arrived in the park. Syx blinked at her owlishly, then smiled and nodded. "Okay." He darted into a flat, open space and began to fight against opponents Roxanne couldn't see.

No, he was dancing. It was too graceful, too elegant, to be a fight. Kick, jump, twirl aside. Punch, slap, dodge. Double jumping kick, backwards somersault. This was a side of Syx she had never seen before, a side that was fast and powerful and quite capable of defeating eight football players. Were all martial artists like that?

A crowd gathered around, but Syx didn't notice. He was too intent on his half-dance, half-fight. Finally, after over ten minutes of activity, he paused. Green eyes widened as he realized he had an audience. They cheered. Syx blushed and bowed. They cheered louder. Several came up to congratulate him personally. A couple people asked what studio had taught him so well, or if he could tutor someone they knew.

"I believe you now," Roxanne said once her boyfriend's admirers had left. "If you and Kelly can both do that, no one short of Metro Dude could stand a chance against you." He beamed at her. "Now come on, let's go for a bike ride."

Syx stopped beaming. His blush returned. "I thought we were going for a walk."

"I changed my mind," she replied. Then, remembering that he and Kelly weren't exactly well-off, she added, "I'll pay for the rentals."

The blush deepened. "I've never ridden a bike," he confessed miserably.

Roxanne stared. "You can do ninja moves, list off the entire periodic table, and ace the AP tests, but you can't ride a bike?"

"I never said 'can't,'" he defended. "I just said that I never had. It's completely different!"

She blinked several times. "Time to learn, then." She grabbed him by the hand (which reduced him to grinning jelly), and led him over to the bike rentals. As she walked, she wondered why Syx and Kelly, two of the gentlest boys at the school, needed to defend themselves like that.

* * *

><p><em>September 23, 1999 <em>

"Happy birthday Kelly!"

The ichthyoid nearly jumped out of his skin as the lights flickered on. It seemed as though half the school had crowded into Roxanne's apartment: his friends from theater and the science club, a couple of his and Syx's tutees, and Maria and her perpetually grumpy cousin Bernard, who was probably there to "fulfill his weekly quota of social time."

"Happy birthday to you," his brother sang. As usual, he went off-key on the third note. Everyone else joined in. They were also off-key. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Kelly, happy birthday to you!" Applause and laughter broke out.

"You forgot it was your birthday again, didn't you," Syx muttered. His brother shrugged, embarrassed. The younger chuckled and patted his arm. "Silly sibling. You come of age today! How in the world could you forget?"

"I dunno. It just never seemed that important."

"Oh, man," laughed Albert, who hadn't heard the siblings' exchange, "don't tell me he forgot again?"

"He did," Syx confirmed, rolling his eyes.

"At least he didn't scream this time," Roxanne pointed out. She pitched her voice lower and quoted, "'Run, Syx! I'll hold them off!'"

"And then he pushed me away and dropped into a ninja pose!" the younger Auslander reminisced.

"And then I nearly died of a heart attack while you all laughed at me," Kelly reminded them, grinning widely. "Remember how Syx wouldn't let me stand until my heart rate went down?" It was a lot funnier in retrospect.

"Seriously, though, you forgot your eighteenth birthday?" Albert cuffed him on the shoulder. In his grandest voice, he proclaimed, "Today, young grasshopper, you are a man!" The jock leaned closer. In a stage whisper, he hissed, "Age of consent, dude!"

The birthday boy's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as his famous modesty kicked in. Most of the guests, including the hostess and her boyfriend, choked with laughter. Bernard (who never laughed) called out, "But Maria isn't, so what's the point of that?"

Catcalls and whoops echoed around the room. Kelly's face could have fried eggs. "Traitor," he hissed at the giggling Syx. His brother nodded.

The next hour passed in a blur of conversation (except for Bernard, who mostly remained in a corner. Maria occasionally tried to drag him into the party, but he flatly refused to cooperate). Soon it was time for cake (which did, indeed, have a pattern of tropical fish in its frosting) and presents. Several of the theater and science kids had banded together to buy him _The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, with Commentary_. Others had gotten him Shakespeare-themed videos. Bernard gave him a $20 gift card to Red Lobster. Most of the other drama kids had pooled their money to games for his and Syx's PlayStation. Roxanne presented him with flippers and goggles. For some reason, her gift caused the boys to giggle uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing," Syx chortled.

"Thanks, Roxanne," his brother added. "These will really come in handy when we go swimming." He elbowed the younger boy, who began nodding.

"Can I show you my present now?" Syx asked. His brother considered for a moment before nodding. The younger boy's face split into a grin. "Excellent! Follow me, partygoers!"

He led them down to the parking garage, where a fabric-covered lump was waiting for them. Grinning ear to ear, he pulled the fabric off. "Ta-da!"

Kelly's eyes grew very wide.

It was a motorcycle, brand-new and obviously custom-made. Even Roxanne, who knew nothing about that type of bike, could tell that it was unique. It was sleeker and more graceful than any bike she'd ever seen before. The color scheme was simple, black with silver on the handles and wheel caps. Its seat was black, gleaming leather. The entire motorcycle oozed power and speed.

"Ooh," was all Kelly could manage. He ambled over to the bike, grinning like an idiot. "So that's why you wanted me to get my license." He'd had to wrap his head up in an enormous scarf at the height of July for the test and photograph. That had been uncomfortable, but now, seeing this bike, he knew it was worth it.

Syx began enthusing about its engine power, its acceleration, everything he could think of. The partygoers, even those who knew less than nothing about bikes, listened in awe. They didn't know what he was saying, but it sure sounded impressive.

"I want one," Bernard declared. "Where can I get one?"

Syx grew pink. "You can't," he mumbled.

Kelly, laughing, enveloped him in a hug. "You made it, didn't you." It was not a question. "How long did it take?"

"Only a couple weeks," he mumbled, returning the hug.

"You made it?" parroted Albert. "How come you know how to make bikes? I thought you two wanted to be conservation biologists."

Syx thrust his chin into the air. "I am a man of many skills," he proclaimed. His brother, still hugging him, nodded. "Ah, Kelly? Could you let me go now?"

"Sorry," he laughed, disengaging. He ran a finger over the bike and nodded decisively. "We're riding this home tonight."

"Yes!" Syx yelled.

"Any more presents?" Roxanne called. Most of the guests shook their heads. Maria, who hadn't yet given hers, nodded and pressed a finger to her lips. Apparently she wanted to give it in private.

Now that the main part of the party was over, guests began trickling away. The Auslander brothers, angels that they were, stayed behind to help with cleanup. "After all," Kelly reasoned, "it was technically my party." Maria too remained in Roxanne's apartment long after everyone else, including her cousin, had left.

When the cleanup had almost finished, Maria shot Syx and Roxanne a pleading look. They understood and snuck out of the apartment. Kelly, absorbed in taking down the few remaining streamers, didn't notice. "Okay, I think that's it." Blink, blink. "Where'd everybody go?"

"Not sure," Maria admitted. She swallowed. "I haven't given you your present yet, you know. It probably can't top Syx's bike, but… I think you'll like it."

His expression indicated that he knew exactly where this was going. "Maria," he reminded her gently, "we agreed to be just friends."

"And we both know that's not going to happen," she retorted. Her fists clenched. "For Pete's sake, Kelly, it's not like I'm asking you to marry me. But we both know we belong together."

He took off the holo-watch. Blue light flared. His fins were drooping. "Maybe if I had been born human…."

"I. Don't. _Care." _She shoved her backpack into his hands. "Look at my gift, okay? Quit being stubborn for _five minutes_ and look at my gift."

He reached into her backpack and withdrew a crudely bound children's book. "'The Frog Prince,' huh?"

"Not exactly."

Maria knew that if she tried to _talk _him into seeing sense, she would start chattering and lose the thread of conversation. She had also known that he wouldn't see sense on his own, that she had to force his eyes open. So she had spent the summer months creating this book, her favorite childhood story that had become more meaningful than ever.

Kelly opened the book. Its words were handwritten, its pictures undetailed but heartfelt.

Maria's version of the fairytale was very different from the one he'd grown up with. In it, the frog hid himself from the princess until after they had fallen in love. Then, convinced that his curse was eternal and not wanting to burden his lady, the frog fled. The princess followed him through the Dragon Woods, over the Boiling River, and into the Cave of Despair, which blinded all who entered it.

Reunited with his princess, the frog confessed his true species. The princess fiercely replied that she had known all along- and she hadn't cared. If the frog was that ashamed of his appearance, they could stay in the Cave of Despair, blind for all eternity- but she refused to leave him. The book ended before the frog made his choice: should he stay in the cave forever, or would he trust the princess's love and leave it?

Kelly stared at the final page for a long, long time. One side of his mouth twitched up. "I'm a fish, not a frog. And I'm definitely not a prince."

"You're a clan head, though," she pointed out.

He grimaced. "Only because there aren't a whole lot of other candidates."

Maria grit her teeth. Suddenly she was fed up with his uncertainty, his hesitation. She had to know. "Kelly-"

"My name is Kelluerai."

"Huh?"

He blushed. "My name," he reiterated softly, "is Kelluerai _khvat_'Messerosyx _dun_'Ztanye Dazarro. And I don't want to stay in the cave." He leaned forward and kissed her.

* * *

><p>So… cheesy…. It shames me!<p>

Oh, well. Now that those two are together, I can start focusing on other stuff. Remember- good things happen right before the crud hits the fan. And crud will hit the fan within the next couple chapters.

This chapter is dedicated to nineteenninetytwo.

Kelluerai _khvat'_Messerosyx _dun'_Ztanye Dazarro: kel-LOO-eh-reye khhvat (kh is very aspirate, rhymes with cat) mes-SAIR-row-syx doon zz-tan-YEH (tan rhymes with span, yeh as in yes) daz-zar-ROW (daz rhymes with spaz, zar rhymes with far).


	8. So Close, So Far Away

_September 23, 1999 _

"What are they doing up there?" Roxanne muttered, leaning against Kelly's new bike.

"I have no idea," her boyfriend shrugged.

"They're probably talking about their relationship," the girl mused. She chuckled. "Poor Kelly. He doesn't stand a chance."

"He doesn't," Syx agreed, "but it will probably take them awhile. My brother can be awfully stubborn when he wants to be."

Roxanne shook her head. "I just don't get it," she complained. "How can he not see that they're perfect for each other? It's just beyond dumb to push Maria away. Not to mention that it's a waste of time." She frowned. "So why's he doing it again?"

With a chill, Syx realized that now would be the perfect time to tell her. _Kelly doesn't want to date her because he's a space-fish-turned-almost-human. What about me, you ask? No, I'm not a space-fish-turned-almost-human. I'm blue, bald, and- don't run screaming, Roxanne! Come back! _

He told himself that that wasn't going to happen. Roxanne would accept him, just like Maria had accepted Kelly. She wouldn't flee into Metro Dude's open arms.

"You okay, Syx?" the reporter-in-training fussed.

The boy swallowed. His throat was dry as the Sahara. "I'm fine. I-" Tell her, Messerosyx. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. It's hard enough already; can you imagine what it would be like in a month? "I-I-I-" But he couldn't say it.

Roxanne's eyes softened. She kissed his forehead, very softly. Syx's nerves evaporated, replaced by unadulterated bliss. "You can tell me when you're ready, okay? Don't hurt yourself." Those blue eyes of hers were compassionate, understanding.

Syx's heart swelled with love. How amazing, how wonderful, that such a woman was his! How in the worlds had he gotten so lucky?

And how could he betray her by keeping silent a moment longer?

"Roxanne, I'm an-"

"Ready to go, Syx?" his brother called. The younger boy nearly jumped out of his skin. He whirled around, heart thudding, eyes bulging out of their sockets. Kelly's expression froze. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the other alien mumbled. He focused on his heart rate, trying to make it return to normal. It didn't work. "You just startled me, that's all."

He could tell her now. Maria already knew what he really looked like, and Kelly had been with him since the day he was born. Or, if he didn't want them there, a few words would send them away, leaving him alone with Roxanne. That's what he should do. He should ask them to come back in a few minutes because he had to tell Roxanne the truth. Yes, that was exactly what he should do.

But his nerve had failed him. He couldn't send Kelly and Maria away. It would have been easier to fly of his own volition or shoot lasers from his eyes or bring back his dead birthplace. The moment had passed.

Roxanne squeezed his hand, fixed him with a sad smile. _When you're ready,_ she mouthed. How much did it cost her, curious as she was, to hold back?

"You don't look so good, Syx," Kelly observed. He pressed a hand against his brother's brow. "Your temperature's higher than normal. Have you been drinking enough fluids lately?"

"I'm fine," he gulped. Kelly shot him a withering glare; he was doubtless probing through their bond, scanning his physical and emotional state with a precision that human therapists could only dream of. "No, really, Mother. I'm fine."

The glare changed to a we-will-discuss-this look. Syx nodded, and his brother turned to Maria. "When will your dad be here to pick you up?"

"Five minutes or so," she answered.

"We're heading home now," Syx announced. "Bye, Roxanne. Bye, Maria." He scurried over to the motorcycle. "You coming, Kelly?"

What happened next was almost enough to shock Syx out of his misery. His prudish, I-refuse-to-get-involved-with-anyone-because-I'm-a-fish brother kissed Maria on the forehead. "See you tomorrow," he said softly. "I've gotta get this one home." To Roxanne, he added, "Thanks for the party. It was really fun."

The future reporter didn't seem to hear him. She was grinning ear to ear at Maria. "You go, girl." The older girl grinned. She seemed almost to be glowing with joy.

"Yeah," Kelly mumbled. He, too, was glowing, and not just from his _xiben-_hair. "Bye."

"So what happened with you and Maria?" Syx demanded the second they had cleared the garage on Kelly's new motorcycle.

His brother was sitting in front of him, so he couldn't see the older boy's beatific smile. "We read a book."

"What?"

"We read a book. She actually wrote it- I think she spent the entire summer working on it. I'll show you the second we're done in the warden's office."

The color drained from Syx's face. He could think of only one reason for the warden to summon them. Somehow, some way, he must have found out about their deception. "Warden Ridgeway wants to see us?"

"It's nothing like that," Kelly assured him quickly. "He and I have a surprise for you, that's all."

"What kind of surprise?" the younger boy demanded. He hugged his brother tighter. "Is it a puppy? Please tell me it's a puppy."

"Ah, no. No puppies. You know what he says about puppies and prisons. They just don't mix."

Syx mock-scowled. "I want a puppy."

The light ahead of them turned red. Kelly braked. "This is an amazing bike, Syx."

He perked up. "And you haven't even tried out the special features yet. Remember that one movie with the botanist and the children and the line about phoning home?"

"It's called _E.T.,_ Syx." Then he realized what his brother was implying and gasped out, "This thing can fly?"

"It can fly," Syx confirmed.

Kelly turned to him with a huge smile. "If we weren't in the middle of traffic, I would kiss you right now."

"Please don't. Oh, the light's turned. You should get going."

The driver returned his attention to the road. "How on or off Earth did you make it fly?"

His brother spent the remainder of the drive explaining exactly what he'd done to make the motorcycle more sky-worthy (among other things). Most people would have been lost after the third word, but though Kelly wasn't as intelligent as his partner, he was still exceptionally bright. He understood everything that Syx was saying.

Syx continued his description of the bike's special features as they entered the schoolhouse, removed their holo-watches, and reverted to their true forms. He fell silent after that, though, knowing that they had to sneak into prison to avoid suspicion. No one there knew about the holo-watches, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Warden Ridgeway and his wife, Judge Lucia, were waiting in the former's office. "Happy birthday, Kelluerai," the judge said, embracing him. She released him, looked Syx up and down. "I think you've gotten taller, Messerosyx." The blue boy beamed.

"Now that we're all here," her husband began, "we can get down to business." He met Syx's eyes. "Kelly applied to become your legal guardian. Now that he's eighteen and a legal adult, all he has to do is sign the paperwork. But he wants your permission before doing anything more."

The younger alien was confused. Ridgeway was his legal guardian, and he had no complaints about the man's suitability for the job. "Why did you do that, Kelly?" he asked.

"Legal precedence," was the piscine's blunt response. "If they granted me, an alien who was born a fish, rights over any minor, then that means they acknowledge my personhood. And if they acknowledge _my _personhood, they really don't have any excuse for dismissing yours, because you're a lot more human than I am."

Syx's mouth dropped open. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and croaked out, "Human rights?"

"Not exactly," sighed the judge. "But if they ever decide to come after you two, this paperwork will give you legal ammunition. We can raise a huge fuss over it, drag it all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to."

A gleeful smile crossed Syx's face. "That's downright devious! Which of you closet villains came up with that?"

Kelly ducked his head and waved. His fins fluttered in embarrassment.

"My brilliant brother," his sibling laughed. "Sign away, my devious fishy friend." He rubbed his hands together with anticipation. "Where's the paperwork?"

"Right here," Lucia replied, passing it across the desk.

Kelly had already read through the forms many times. He knew exactly what they said and where they said it. Smiling almost as widely as his brother, he signed _Kelluerai Dazarro (Kelly Auslander)_.

"Congratulations, boys," Judge Ridgeway said. "I'll get these filed first thing in the morning. Now, I believe we have a birthday to celebrate."

Syx nodded. "We have to tell our uncles everything that happened today," he exclaimed.

"What did happen today?" asked the warden as they walked through the halls.

"What didn't happen?" Kelly joked. "But don't worry, sir. Everything that happened was good."

* * *

><p><em>September 24- September 29, 1999 <em>

Syx tried to tell her. He really truly did. But whenever he scrounged up the courage to begin, something would interfere. That something took various forms: a thwarted bully shoving him into his locker, an old friend stopping by for another conversation, the waitress at the café asking for their orders. The distractions didn't take long to deal with, but when they were gone, so was Syx's resolve.

To make things worse, Roxanne knew that he was trying to tell her something important. She didn't push him to just spit it out already, but each time he lost his nerve, her frown grew a little deeper.

Perhaps, if the reporter-in-training hadn't thought she knew what was going on, she would have pressed more. But Roxanne had come up with an explanation that fit everything perfectly: the brothers' fighting ability, their refusal to give their home address, why they had previously been so adamant about not dating.

She had concluded that they were in the Witness Protection Program. It was so blindingly obvious that she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before. There were still a few holes in her theory- she didn't know what kind of crime they'd witnessed or how much immediate danger they were in- but she had convinced herself that Syx and Kelly Auslander needed government protection.

Roxanne thought she knew when the crime had occurred. Neither boy had attended Metro High until the fall of 1998, when Kelly had been a junior and Syx a sophomore. That seemed to imply that they'd seen the crime sometime during the previous summer. Whatever it was, it must have been awful. Why else would Syx clam up like that whenever he tried to explain?

So she bided her time. Whenever her new boyfriend chickened out, she reminded herself that he had been psychologically traumatized and might even get in trouble with the government if he spilled.

By contrast, Kelly's relationship with Maria was blossoming. The piscine had never been able to confide in anyone besides Syx, and the human was immensely curious about his life as a space-fish-turned-almost-human on Earth (she tried to avoid questions about his dead birthplace, though. She didn't want him to feel like she was dating him only to satisfy her curiosity about a genuine alien civilization). Her boyfriend wasn't accustomed to talking so much- he usually left that job to Syx- but she had a way of extracting details.

Maria almost wished that he had kept silent. Some of his stories were… not pretty. He had grown up in prison, after all, and such a childhood was not conducive to family-friendly tales. Add in the bullying, the kidnapping attempt and subsequent rescue mission, the constant paranoia that the government might really be out to get him, and the fact that he'd seen his entire home planet sucked into a black hole…. In Maria's opinion, it was nothing short of a _miracle_ that he and Syx weren't rabid axe murderers.

When she expressed that sentiment to Kelly, he frowned slightly and nodded. "You're right," he admitted, "but please don't say that in front of Syx."

"Why not?"

The ichthyoid grimaced. "Because when we went to kindergarten together, Scott took one look at him and decided he was a super villain. He even gave Syx some ridiculous villain name and started calling me 'that blue kid's minion.' So he's kind of sensitive about stuff like that."

"Gotcha." She hesitated, chewed her lip. "Speaking of Syx…."

Kelly scowled. "I know it's tough, but he has to tell her. And the more he delays, the worse it's going to get!" He shook his head in exasperation. "I love my brother, I really do, but he can be such a blockhead sometimes."

Maria thought of how afraid Kelly had been the first time he let her see him. "He's just scared. You were too."

Kelly rubbed his forehead. "I know, and he's had it a lot worse than me. In kindergarten, I was just a talking fish in a ball of water: weird, yes, but not a _person_ in the same way Syx was. Yeah, they would do things like play fish ball and 'confiscate' me- remind me to tell you about the Swimming Pool Incident- but it was only a way to torment _him_. It wasn't personal because they didn't realize I _could_ be psychologically traumatized.

"But Syx looked human enough to be emotionally vulnerable. So everyone went out of their way to hurt him, and they made sure he knew why."

His girlfriend shuddered and squeezed his hand. "He does know Roxanne's not like that, right?"

"Intellectually, yeah. But emotionally? He's too scared to take the plunge."

They sat there for a long time, watching people go by in the park.

Maria knew better than to suggest that Kelly tell Roxanne what Syx couldn't. She knew that this was something the younger boy would have to do himself. But, short of locking them in the janitor's closet until Syx confessed, she didn't know what else to do.

"Think I should give him a deadline?" the ichthyoid finally asked.

Maria started. They had been quiet for so long that she hadn't expected him to speak. "You mean threaten to tell her if he doesn't spill within x number of days?"

"No," he teased, shoving her playfully, "the other kind of deadline."

She chuckled. "Point. I think it's a great idea. Definitely better than waiting until they have kids."

Kelly adopted a high-pitched, feminine voice. "'Honey, why is our baby blue?'"

"How about homecoming?" his girlfriend suggested. "That gives him time to prepare, but it's still coming up pretty soon. He could write a script or something and memorize it. Do you think that would help him?"

"I think it would," Kelly agreed. "But can you be there when I tell him? I'll probably need a bodyguard."

* * *

><p>Yeah. Filler chapter is a filler. But this stuff needed to happen. Don't worry, though, for Syx shall finally man up in the next installment. Hopefully that excitement will make up for the lack in this chapter.<p>

This (filler) chapter is dedicated to PuppyBeBad.

-Corona


	9. Taking the Plunge

_October 8, 1999 _

"Get out of the bathroom, Syx."

"No!" his stubborn brother shouted.

"We're going to be late picking up Roxanne and Maria."

"You can go without me."

The piscine snorted. "And what will Miss Ritchie say? You told her you'd bring her to the dance tonight. Are you really going to break your promise?"

There was silence. For a few minutes, the ichthyoid thought that he'd gotten through. Then Syx ordered, "Tell her I've died."

"I'm not telling her that you've died."

"I order you to tell her that I'm dead!"

Kelly's jaw tightened. His brother didn't use the dominance card often, but that didn't make it any easier to disobey. He counted to ten in every language he knew (all seven of them) before growling, "No."

His uncharacteristic defiance startled Syx into opening the bathroom door and peeping out. That was all the advantage Kelly needed. He grabbed the younger boy's slim shoulders and dragged him, kicking and shrieking, into the main part of their cell. "OBEY ME! LET ME GO! I'M YOUR MASTER, LET ME GO!"

"You made a promise, _sir,_" he snapped. "You promised that you would tell Miss Ritchie by tonight, _master. _But you haven't told her yet, _sir. _I'm not letting you break your promise, _my liege._"

Syx's struggles ceased. Kelly, not knowing whether to trust his sudden stillness, reached through their bond to feel his emotional state. Miserable regret seeped across the link. Content in the knowledge that Syx wouldn't barricade himself in the bathroom again, he released the smaller boy's shoulders. "You'll be fine, Messerosyx," he assured him gently in their dead native tongue. "Roxanne isn't going to hate you. Maybe she'd be mad if the watch shorted out while you were kissing in a fancy restaurant or something, but you're telling her of your own free will. She's not going to judge you."

The blue boy was silent. His hands worked, gesturing at his entire too-skinny body, his too-large head, his baldness, the blue tone of his skin. His mouth worked, but no sound came out.

Kelly patted his shoulder. "She's not going to care, Syx. I promise."

Syx grabbed him in a tight hug. His chin rested on the other boy's shoulder. Tears leaked from his eyes into the fabric of Kelly's suit-coat, but the piscine didn't mind. He hugged his brother back, murmuring that it was going to be okay.

"You'd better be right," he mumbled, disengaging. "If you're wrong, I'll have you fried and served with chips."

Kelly smiled. The threat was an old joke of theirs, one that had originated when he transformed himself into an almost-human being. _You idiotic ichthyoid, I ought to have you chopped into sushi! I should fry you and get French fries and feed you to Uncle Lefty! Do you not understand that you could have DIED? _"Come on," he said gently. "We're going to be late."

The warden had agreed to let them borrow the car instead of using Kelly's motorbike. It might be able to fly, but it couldn't fit four people unless Syx dehydrated some of them.

They spent the ride to Maria's apartment strategizing. How would Syx get Roxanne alone? Should he just take off the watch and let the fur fly, or should he try to explain things first?

When Maria (resplendent in a forest green gown with flowing sleeves that Kelly had sewn just for her) came into the car, they had to stop planning. It wasn't that they didn't trust her. It was that her cousin Bernard, who knew nothing about blue boys and fish mutants, had decided at the last minute to hitch a ride with them. "It's either this or spent the entire night listening to Mom tell Uncle Frank how socially maladapted I am," he grumbled in his signature bored tone. "I'll be hiding in the corner when it's time to go home."

"Which corner?" Kelly asked dryly.

"Don't know yet," he shrugged.

Roxanne wore a square-necked dress the color of aged wine. When Syx saw her, his jaw nearly fell off its hinges. Kelly tried to close his brother's mouth for him, but it just kept falling open.

"How do I look?" the reporter-in-training asked, smoothing her skirts.

Syx made a strangled garbling noise. "That means something like, 'You look very pretty,'" Kelly translated.

"Ah, young love," Maria teased.

Syx, his holographic face bright red, turned away. "You look very nice, Roxanne," he squeaked. Clan Founders, how in the worlds was he supposed to confess to her? The very thought made his hands tremble.

Roxanne's apartment was only a few blocks from Metro High. To the terrified Syx, the journey from her home to their school seemed almost instantaneous- one second she was entering the car and asking about her looks, the next Kelly was pulling into a parking spot and helping Maria out the door.

Maybe he could stay in the car forever. Maybe he could- Kelly met his eyes. The blue boy gulped, nodded, and forced himself out of the car.

Bernard went on ahead, leaving the two couples to their own devices. Kelly patted his brother's shoulders. In the language of their dead home planet, he whispered, "Don't worry, Messerosyx. You'll be fine." He squeezed the boy's shoulder one last time and gently pushed him forward.

"_Ma'rel,_" the younger sibling whispered. Thank you.

As they walked into the school, Maria pulled Roxanne slightly aside. "Syx has something to tell you tonight," she announced softly. "It's the reason he was so reluctant to date you, the same reason Kelly didn't want to date me. Well, not quite the same reason," she amended, "because… um… it's just not the same reason, but it's close enough. I'm not going to ask you to not freak out, because you're probably going to freak out, but- he's still Syx, okay? Just like Kelly's still Kelly." She finished her somewhat convoluted pep talk by jogging up to her boyfriend.

_Oh, good_, Roxanne thought. _It's about time he came clean about being in the Witness Protection Program. _

The quartet went to the crowded gymnasium first- Kelly and Maria because they had no life-shattering revelations to go through, and Syx and Roxanne because she thought he could work off his nervous energy by dancing.

The future reporter's plan failed. Syx was incapable of dancing. In fact, he was really quite incapable of anything more strenuous than staring at her with big deer-in-headlights eyes.

Fifteen minutes into the party, Kelly and Maria waltzed over. Neither could dance, but they were enjoying themselves immensely. "Just get it over with," the older boy told his brother. In a lower voice, he added, "The janitor's closet is unlocked. It's not exactly big, but it doesn't have any windows." A smile. "And quit worrying, okay? Maria accepts me. Roxanne will still love you."

Syx nodded frantically. He grabbed Roxanne by the hand and led her out of the gym.

The closet was unlocked, just as Kelly had promised. His brother wondered if it had been that way all along or if the faithful fish had picked it for him.

But… where to begin, where to begin? Now that the moment of truth had arrived, all his plans flew out the window. He stared at Roxanne, gorgeous in her red dress, incapable of coherent speech.

When his tongue returned, he blurted out something completely unrelated to blue aliens or holographic disguises. "Roxanne," he gasped, "I love you. I just want you to know that that's real, even if the rest of me isn't."

She hugged him. He closed his eyes in bliss, enjoying the brief reprieve. "Don't worry," the girl murmured, "I know what's wrong."

His entire body grew stiff in her arms. He and Kelly had been so careful. How had she figured it out?

"I know that you and Kelly are in the Witness Protection Program."

"What?" Syx jerked back, colliding with the wall. "Witness Protection Program?"

Roxanne groaned. "First the homeless shelter, now the WPP? I'm really losing my touch."

"No, no," her boyfriend mumbled, shaking his head wildly. "It was a good guess- I can see why you thought so. And I really don't blame you for not coming up with the truth, because the truth is pretty crazy." He tittered nervously. Time to take the plunge.

"Roxanne, how would you react if I wasn't entirely normal?" He cringed away.

"I already knew you weren't normal," she pointed out.

Why was this so difficult? But difficult or not, he had to tell her. "By 'normal,' I mean-" Deep breaths, just focus on deep breaths "-not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, garden-variety _Homo sapiens._" He squeezed his eyes shut, cowering into a corner.

"I'm… sorry?" Roxanne had no idea how to react. On the one hand, there was no way that Syx _wasn't_ human. On the other… why else would he be so nervous. "Could you repeat that?"

He forced the words out one by one. "I. Am. Not. Human." Swallow. "I'm not human, Roxanne. I'm a Vihiln from a planet that you've never even heard of."

Silence, dead silence. He opened his eyes. Roxanne's expression was befuddled. "You look human," was all she said.

Suddenly he just wanted to get it over with. "I don't," he whispered. "I- my watch, mine and Kelly's, they're holographic projectors. When we turn them on, we look normal."

"Okay." She nodded several times, very slowly. Her eyes were wide with shock, but Syx saw none of the familiar revulsion in their depths. "Okay. And what do you… what do you look like when you're not… um… disguised?"

She was taking this much better than he had expected, but she still hadn't seen his true self. He considered describing his alien body to her, but he knew that he had to go all the way.

Without a word, without a sound, without hesitation, he twisted the dial on his holo-watch.

Blue light flared, leaving him exposed. He felt naked, like an animal in a trap. He looked away.

Roxanne had gasped softly when his true form was revealed, but she did not scream. Instead, she hesitantly reached out to cup the chin of the blue-boy-who-was-Syx. He looked nothing like her boyfriend: an angled instead of a rounded face, no mop of blond hair, pointed ears, large head, skinny neck. Not to mention the blueness.

But his eyes were the same. Still green, still large, still filled with everything that made Syx Syx. Looking into those wide, terrified eyes, it was easy to believe that the- Vihiln, right?- was her beloved boyfriend.

"You," she declared softly, "have the cutest ears."

A thousand emotions danced across his face: shock, joy, disbelief, even a bit of indignation. That, too, was Syx- that waltz of emotions, the sheer life in his expressions.

Roxanne leaned forward, fully intending to press her lips to his- when the door swung open. "Long time no see," growled the angry voice of Wayne Scott, glaring at the exposed alien with an expression of triumphant disdain. "_Megamind._"

* * *

><p><em>October 8, 1999 <em>

Roxanne was even more gorgeous than normal, Wayne decided. The only thing that could perfect her loveliness was ridding herself of the scrawny blond boy who was holding her hand and attempting (badly) to dance with her. She should be on his arm, not that of a nerdy little runt.

At least Syx knew he had overstepped his place. Why else would he be trembling like an autumn leaf? A smile crossed Wayne's lips as he led Roxanne out of the gym, undoubtedly to break up with her. The future hero backed into a corner, sipping idly at a drink, and followed them with his x-ray vision and super hearing.

His smile faded as the boy led her into the janitor's closet. People did not go into janitor's closest to break up with their girlfriends. They went there to make out.

But they weren't kissing. Syx was gulping like a fish out of water, obviously terrified, but they weren't kissing.

Then the blond boy blurted out how he felt. Wayne put down his empty glass and clenched his fists. Obviously they weren't breaking up.

But they weren't making out either, so he decided to keep watching and listening. One eyebrow arched as he overheard Roxanne's words. Witness Protection Program? The Auslanders were in the Witness Protection Program?

No, evidently not.

It seemed that Syx would lose his nerve, but he somehow managed to confess his inhumanity. Wayne's eyes grew wide. Not human? Holographic projectors on his watch? A smile split his face. Roxie was a smart girl; she would break up with him now.

But she didn't. She wanted to see him without the disguise. And Syx, besotted as he was, twisted his watch.

Blue skin. Enormous bald head. Pointed ears. Wayne's heart skipped a beat before doubling its tempo.

He _knew _that unnaturally scrawny freak. They had gone to kindergarten together, hero and villain in the same class. He'd named him, even, on the same day he named himself. His lips formed the soundless word. _Megamind…. _

Any second now, Roxie would run screaming. Surely she wasn't brainwashed enough to accept what was obviously an evil villain. Surely she would accept her place at his side now that her current boyfriend had been revealed as an evil freak.

"You have the cutest ears," she told him quietly, and leaned forward to kiss him.

Blood boiled all through Wayne's body. Snub _him_ for _that_? And to think he couldn't do-

-but he could. Syx was a villain now, and villains were fair game.

* * *

><p>Sorry, aurawind. I know you're a Mets fan, but he was the only person who could and would bust Syx. As an apology, this chapter is dedicated to you. Hopefully that enough compensation. *bows*<p>

Now that that's over with... OH NOES! SYX IS BUSTED! HEAD FOR THE HILLS!

-Corona


	10. Thank You, Metro Dude!

_October 8, 1999 _

The bond flared to life of its own accord, blazed like a beacon. Cold, all-consuming terror spiked through it. The sensation was so intense that it obliterated all conscious thought, blocking out all his other senses. Syx's abject terror was all that mattered, all that was real.

Something had gone dreadfully wrong. The bond only flared to life of its own accord when something was horribly, desperately, dreadfully _wrong_.

"Kelly?" Maria's voice penetrated the fog of panic clouding his mind. He stopped. Every instinct screamed to run, to help his helpless brother. "Are you okay?"

"I am," he replied. "Syx isn't." He turned, fully intending to sprint to the janitor's closet. Who cared what anyone thought of his strange behavior? He had to save Syx, that was all that mattered.

The thought-feeling-presence in his mind that was connected to Syx moved more quickly than Kelly had thought possible. A second later, he saw why: Metro Dude had flown into the gym, holding his beloved brother by the collar.

Syx still looked human, blond and round-faced. Why was that? Had Metro Dude interrupted before he could tell Roxanne? Or perhaps, whispered a darker voice in his mind, the super _knew._ Perhaps he knew, and had forced Syx into this form only to expose him.

Kelly's blood ran cold. He knew, on the deepest level of his soul, that that was exactly what had happened. May Xemiphantes help him, and may Tanye help his brother.

Green eyes bored into golden-brown. Syx did not need to scan the crowd- he, too, could follow the bond to meet his clan-brother's gaze. "RUN!" the blue boy screamed.

Kelly ran- but not in the direction his partner, his best friend, had intended. He shot towards the flying white-clad super, blood pounding in his ear-fins. At the last second, he bent his knees and leapt into the air. "Let him _go_!" he screamed.

Metro Dude grabbed him by his left arm, the arm with the holo-watch on it. Pain exploded in his shoulder joint; it had been dislocated by the force of Kelly's falling body. Stars swam before his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" yelled the principal.

_That's it, see sense. Stop him before he destroys everything we've worked for…._

"I've been suspicious of these two for a long time," the super proclaimed. He gave his captives a little shake. Waves of pain washed through Kelly's dislocated shoulder. He grit his teeth, fought back a scream. There was no way he would give Metro Dude that kind of satisfaction.

Maria was screaming at him to let them down _now,_ you despicable bully, but her words seemed strangely quiet. Metro Dude's little speech seemed to echo around the stunned gym.

Syx was struggling, kicking and punching and straining, but his blows were more ineffective than a newborn infant's. Kelly forced himself to fight and struggle, to ignore the pain in his arm, to fight futilely. He knew that it was too late, that it had been over the second Metro Dude saw Syx transform, but may the black hole take him if he didn't put up a fight!

"Take a good long look the villains in our midst!" the so-called hero proclaimed. Twin beams of red light shot from his eyes, vaporized Kelly's holo-watch. He turned to Syx. The younger boy's watch melted.

Blue light flared and faded. The room filled with gasps, screams, yelps.

Syx howled with despair. He tried to cover his face with his arms, but his limbs were too skinny, his head too large. "Don't look at me," he sobbed. "Don't look at me!"

"That's right, Metro High!" screamed a shrill female voice. Maria's eyes were on fire. "Take a good long look at the villain in our midst!" And she pointed, not at the shark-toothed fish thing or the spitting image of a comic book super villain, but at the shining white-clad hero who had stripped them naked before the entire school.

Clan Founders, he loved that girl.

Metro Dude dropped them. Maria yelped, ran to try and break Kelly's fall. She managed to keep the piscine from further injury, but Syx landed wrong. His leg broke with a sickening _crack_!

"_What did you call me_?" Metro Dude snarled. He loomed above them, deadly and inescapable as a tidal wave.

"You heard me!" Maria shrieked back. She spat onto his white boots.

Wayne's face darkened.

Kelly pushed his girlfriend aside, shielding her with his own body. "Don't you dare," he snarled.

A small part of him wondered what he looked like to the student body. He must seem like a monster: huge, demonic fangs; ear fins fully extended and quivering with rage; greenish hair glowing more brightly than normal with the force of his terrified rage.

Syx forced himself to his feet. His face was gray with pain from his broken leg, but Kelly could sense that he was ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"What have you done to brainwash this poor girl?" Metro Dude demanded, trying to save face.

"She's not brainwashed," called a new voice. Roxanne pushed through the gawking crowd, walked over to help support her boyfriend. He leaned on her with a smile of gratitude. "She's just a decent human being who saw her boyfriend and his brother attacked for no good reason." She turned to Syx. "Can you walk?"

"With help, yes," he whispered.

"Then let's go."

Yes. They had to go, to escape before the shock wore off and they were attacked. No one else was moving, but when they recovered…. Roxanne was right. Kelly almost smiled- his brother had chosen well.

The reporter-in-training helped the exposed blue boy walk, very slowly, through the stunned student body. The teens parted like the Red Sea.

When the gym door closed behind Kelly and Maria, Roxanne's entire body sagged. She helped Syx into a sitting position before collapsing herself. "Aliens?" she repeated incredulously.

"Aliens," Kelly confirmed. "A Pir and a Vihiln, to be exact." He took hold of his brother's arm. "Come on, Syx. We have to get to the car."

The blue boy nodded. Biting his lower lip, he let Kelly pull him up. The blue boy knew his brother was right. They had to get to the car, had to get away.

Progress was slow and painful, mostly due to Syx's broken leg. Maria, Roxanne, and Kelly did their best to support him and ease his suffering, but his face remained gray and lined with pain. A few students recovered enough to trickle out of the gym. They lined the halls silently, watching their inhuman classmates in stunned silence.

Soon only a few steps remained before the final exit. Kelly began to hope. "I'll go ahead and get the car," he told them. "You guys wait here, okay?"

"What about my cousin?" Maria whispered.

The ichthyoid's fins twitched in agitation. "Um-"

"I'm right here." Bernard stepped out of the crowd. His eyes were uncommonly wide. They darted between Syx and Kelly's faces.

The intercom came to life. "Would…" the announcer gulped audibly. "Would Syx and Kelly Auslander please report to the principal's office."

Kelly's hopes plummeted. Even if they could reach the car with Syx's leg, Metro Dude would come after them, and they would get in even more trouble.

"Want me…." Albert didn't know how to continue. Like Bernard, he couldn't take his eyes from the aliens' faces. "Syx is hurt, right?"

"Broken leg, I think," Kelly muttered.

"I'll carry him," their tutee muttered.

The piscine started. He hadn't expected the jock to side with them, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "That okay with you, Syx?" A nod. Kelly dug into his pocket and handed the keys to Maria. He and his brother could find another way home.

She grabbed him for a quick hug and kiss. "Be safe, Kelluerai," she whispered into his ear. He nodded. They held the embrace a moment longer before he had to follow Albert to the office.

The students' gazes- some hurt, some betrayed, some terrified, some just confused- burned like fire. Kelly kept his gaze firmly ahead. His arm throbbed, and he could sense the pain of Syx's broken bone through their bond.

Principal Takashi and vice-principal Peterson watched in absolute silence as Albert deposited Syx into a hard plastic chair. Kelly too sat, cradling his injured arm.

The silence stretched on and on.

* * *

><p><em>October 8, 1999 <em>

Roxanne wanted nothing more than to curl up and hide. She wanted to sit alone in a dark corner until her brain could comprehend everything that had happened.

Syx and Kelly were aliens. She kept flashing back to his terrified confession, to his terror when Metro Dude found them. She remembered how the larger teen had grabbed Syx's arm, twisted the holo-watch. How had he known to do that? How long had he been watching?

Poor Syx.

"Let's go," Bernard snapped, grabbing her arm.

"What?" his touch jerked her out of her reverie. "Go?" she repeated idiotically. "Where?"

He shot her a flat glare. "Home. You know, that place where everything is sane and normal? And I'd kind of like to get there before the media circus arrives."

"Media circus?" Roxanne seemed incapable of forming her own thoughts. All she could do was parrot Bernard's words.

"I don't know what happened here tonight," the grumpy boy said bluntly, "but it's definitely interesting enough to attract every camera in the city. I'd like to escape before we're mobbed by reporters."

Reporters…. Roxanne's brain began functioning again. She imagined Metro Dude, smug and shining, lying about the poor Auslander brothers (no, not brothers. Pir and Vihiln. Those had to be different species. Except that they _were_ brothers). And everyone would believe him.

"Reporters?" Maria's voice was small and lost. "Reporters are coming here? That's bad. Kelly doesn't want anyone to find out."

"Too late for that," muttered Bernard.

His cousin ignored him. "This is bad, this is really bad. What if _they_ find them? Of course they're going to find them. Kelly… we have to stay here. We have to stay and make sure they're okay." She clutched the keys so hard that her knuckles turned white. "We have to stay here until we know they're okay."

"No, we need to get-"

"Maria's right," Roxanne snapped. She needed to be there when the reporters arrived. She had to tell them what had really happened. She had to. "We're staying, Bernard."

The first cameras arrived a few minutes later. They spread out through the student body, asking a thousand questions. Was the one boy really blue? Did the other's hair really glow? Had they ever displayed any unusual behavior that, in retrospect, hinted at their inhuman appearances?

Roxanne waited until representatives from all five of Metro City's news stations had arrived. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. This was _not _how she'd imagined her debut.

Frightened green eyes bored into her soul. She had to do this. For Syx, for his brother, for Maria, she had to do this.

Most of the reporters had congregated around Metro Dude. It was now or never.

Roxanne chose _now._

She stalked forward, head held high.

One of the reporters, a woman from KLLP, announced, "On behalf of Metro City, I'd like to thank you for exposing them." The super beamed.

Rage boiled in Roxanne's stomach. "Yes," she called, "_thank you_, Metro Dude. Thank you for humiliating the two smartest students in the entire school! Thank you for attacking them without provocation, for stringing them up like cuts of meat and stripping them naked in front of the entire student body! Thank you for breaking Syx's leg- what_ever_ would we do without you protecting the innocents like that? Thank you for ruining my boyfriend's life! Did you _really think_ that I would fall into your arms after you hurt him like that?"

His face contorted with rage. _Good, _Roxanne thought, _lose control. Show them what you really are. _

But then he smiled. The smile was forced, yes, but it was still there, still convincing enough for those who didn't know him. "A victim of their brainwashing," he announced.

"Then I am too," hissed Maria.

"Same here," called Ruth, one of Kelly's drama friends. "Thank you, Metro Dude, for driving away the best actor and techie I've ever met!" She bit her thumb at him in a Shakespearean gesture of contempt.

"Thank you for assaulting my tutors!" Albert yelled. "Thank you for ensuring that half the AP Chem class is going to fail!"

"Thank you, Metro Dude, for breaking my cousin's heart." Bernard was quieter than the others. He always was. But that did not make him any less effective.

"Thank you, Metro Dude, for hurting my friends!" Roxanne shouted. "Thank you for ruining them!" She spun on her heel and stalked away. Her work here was done.

She just hoped it would be enough.

* * *

><p>Don't make them angry. And by "them," I mean pretty much everyone.<p>

There is obviously going to be a press conference/interview thingy later. What questions should the reporters ask? I have a couple ideas, but any input would be greatly appreciated. Plus it's a way for the characters to answer _your_ questions without breaking the fourth wall. So ask away, dear readers.

-Corona


	11. Attack of the Press

_October 8, 1999 _

Silence was not golden. It was not silver. It wasn't even copper. Silence was a leaden chain, an iron gag. Silence was a bomb waiting to explode.

For the first time, Syx understood Maria's tendency to babble. Anything was better than this vast, unquenchable silence.

He glanced to his side. Kelly's head hung low. His right hand, greenish-nailed and webbed to the second knuckle, rested on his dislocated left shoulder joint. The blue boy reached through their bond. His brother was still in pain, but it had lessened from agonizing to simply miserable.

Not for the first time, he wished that they were telepathic. But no. Their bond allowed them to always find each other, to sense and even alleviate the other's pain, but it was a link of empathy, not telepathy.

He wished he could tell Kelly that it was okay, it was all going to be okay. But he couldn't do that without Takashi and Peterson hearing.

The blue boy sank lower into his chair. Takashi and Peterson hadn't said a word since their two extraterrestrial students had entered the office. How could they? What kind of principal was prepared to find two aliens in his school?

Suddenly Syx couldn't stand it anymore. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat, lifted his head. The other three inhabitants of the room stared at him. He swallowed again. "We… we didn't do this to hurt anyone."

The adults remained silent. Syx took that as a sign to continue. "We didn't disguise ourselves to- to- I don't know, to do bad things. We only wanted…. When we went to kindergarten, we didn't have the watches. We were bullied. Horribly. You've worked with children for years; you know how vicious they can be. We just didn't want to go through that again. So we made- okay, I made- the watches."

This time, the silence did not last quite so long. "_Just _to avoid bullies?" Takashi repeated warily.

"Just to avoid bullies," Kelly confirmed. His brother nodded. Schoolyard bullies and the bigger, stronger ones who had tried to take him.

"What are you going to do to us?" the blue boy whispered.

Takashi rested his head in his hands. "I don't know," he replied. "On the one hand, there's no rule against using holographic projector things to look… normal. And I've seen enough bullying to know that students can take it to extremes. On the other…." He waved his hand. "Holograms? In my school? I have to do _something _about that."

No one spoke. Syx strained his ears. People were talking in the hallways. He wondered how many reporters were swarming through the school.

The door opened, and a flustered Lee Ridgeway stepped through. He was followed by Dr. Philber. The ache in Syx's broken leg flared.

"Doctor, you need to-"

"-check Syx's leg, it's broken-"

"-push Kelly's shoulder back into its socket."

"Broken _leg_? Dislocated _shoulder_? What in the world have you two been _up_ to?"

Takashi cleared his throat. "You don't seem very surprised by their… appearances."

The men from the prison gave him odd looks.

Syx squirmed. "Er… Kelly and I might have been using holographic projectors to disguise ourselves as humans for the past year or so."

Ridgeway sank down into a chair, hiding his head in his hands. "Holographic projectors," he repeated. "You two have been using _holographic projectors._ Talking fish and license plate tricycles and dehydration guns and genetic engineering just weren't enough. _Holographic projectors…._"

"Genetic engineering?" Peterson squeaked.

"Long story," Kelly mumbled. The ichthyoid rubbed absently at his arm, half-wishing that he'd stayed a fish. Fish didn't get dislocated shoulders.

As though he had read the piscine's mind, Dr. Philber grabbed his shoulder. The physician pushed down, forcing Kelly's joint back into place. The brothers yelped in tandem- the elder in pain, and the younger in surprise.

"I'll get a cast for you when we get home, Syx," he promised softly. "But for now, you two need to tell us what happened."

Kelly would explain if he was asked to. Syx could let his brother shoulder that burden…. But he had been the one to conceive of and invent the holo-watches. It was his fault, his responsibility.

In slow, halting words, he told about their desperate terror two springs ago, when the warden had announced that he'd signed them up for public school. He told of the summer of scheming, of the backstories they had crafted and habits they had cultivated to appear normal. He spoke of his terror on their first day. He spoke of Roxanne and Maria, of the brothers' pact to tell any potential soul mates the truth. He told them how terrified he'd been to tell that truth, how Kelly and Maria had given him a deadline. He told them of the meeting in the janitor's closet, how Roxanne had _accepted_ him, how Metro Dude had ruined it. He spoke of being held captive in the gym, of his and Kelly's injuries, of how they had come so close to escaping.

And then he had nothing more to say.

* * *

><p><em>October 8, 1999 <em>

Roxanne smiled at the camera as she related the story of how Syx had overcome his terror to tell her what he was. The reporter, Angie Anchor from KMPC, seemed unable to comprehend what was really a quite simple tale.

"No threats?" she asked. "No blackmail? No attempts at persuasion?"

The younger woman's smile became forced. "No threats, blackmail, or attempts at persuasion," she confirmed. "Just a teenage boy afraid his girlfriend would dump him for the color of his skin."

Angie's expression froze. _That's right,_ Roxanne thought, _I went there. _

Her job was to sow controversy, to change this from a simple black-and-white case of aliens (aliens. Syx and Kelly were aliens. Who would have thought?) hiding out among schoolchildren to two frightened teens whose most carefully guarded secret had been exposed in the worst way possible. She had to paint the world in shades of gray, because if Metro Dude was the hero….

…The Auslanders weren't villains. They were definitely _odd-looking_ and not exactly _honest,_ and Kelly's teeth were somewhat terrifying, but they weren't villains.

"So why do you think they hid themselves like that?" Anchor demanded.

"I don't know," Roxanne retorted sweetly. "Metro Dude attacked us before I could ask any questions."

"Well, look at it from his perspective. He saw a pretty young girl in a hidden space with a blue male."

Her fists clenched. "Not really. I was leaning in to kiss Syx, you see, when he came in and grabbed him. I think that when he saw me about to kiss another guy, he kind of snapped."

"Are you accusing our city's future hero of petty jealousy?" Anchor hissed.

Roxanne nodded, firm and resolute. "Here are the facts, facts that pretty much everyone in Metro High can confirm. Metro Dude started expressing interest in me sometime last March. I turned him down- he's not my type. He thought I was playing hard to get and kept coming after me, probably because I was the only girl who hadn't swooned into his arms after three seconds. Things didn't change this year. He actually came to my apartment a couple weeks ago- in fact, it was the day I started dating Syx- and asked why I hadn't fallen at his feet. He even brought me flowers." She crossed her arms.

"So you believe that Metro Dude's… actions… were motivated by jealousy?"

"They were."

Several feet away, Maria and Bernard were in the midst of their own interview. The reporter, Lucas Burn of KSMP, had initially wanted only to interview "that fish-thing's" girlfriend, but Maria had been so nervous that she'd dragged her cousin onscreen for moral support.

Some people were just not meant for public speaking, and Maria was one of them. Her earlier outbursts against Metro Dude had been born of rage and directed at a personal enemy. Now most of her anger had been replaced by fear, and her rhetorical skills suffered the consequences.

"It's nothing like that," she told the reporter. "Kelly kept giving me the 'just friends' speech again and again and again. It took forever for me to convince him I didn't mind him being a Pir. And then he gave me the whole 'just friends' talk _again,_ and it took another forever to convince him to date me. He's still really shy about letting me see him without his holo-watch- that's what they call them, holo-watches. He's still half-convinced that I'll freak out and run screaming for the FBI and Men in Black and CIA and all the other government acronym agencies."

"You called him a Pir?" the reporter probed.

"Yeah. He's a Pir. P-I-R. At least that's the transliteration. They didn't exactly use Latin letters. Syx jokes and calls him a space _pir_anha- you know, because of his fishier… characteristics. It's gotten him the nickname El Piranha, which is kind of stupid, because he's practically vegetarian. Though he'll eat meat sometimes. Just not every day."

Bernard elbowed her. His cousin sucked in a noisy breath and ceased babbling.

"The door's opening!" a female voice screamed. All the stragglers spun. Their gazes fixed on the door to the principal's office, which was, indeed, opening.

A tall man with a graying mustache strode through the door. No one followed. Frowning, the man paused and turned. He gestured impatiently.

"Warden Lee Ridgeway." Roxanne jumped. She hadn't realized that Maria was by her side until the older girl spoke. "He's the guy who kept them out of Area 51, got them legal citizenship, and found them a place to live. They owe him a lot."

A large blue head poked cautiously out the door. Gasps erupted from the assorted media. Cameras flashed. Syx jerked his head back inside.

Ridgeway sighed audibly, marched back to the door, and fixed his blue charge with a glare. Blushing purple, the Vihiln hobbled into the hall, leaning on his brother (or whatever they really were to each other) for support. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was chewing his lips in an expression of absolute terror.

Kelly seemed intent on watching everything and everyone at once. His head was constantly in motion as he scanned the crowd. Even Roxanne, who wasn't anywhere near the siblings, could see that his jaw and neck muscles were tense.

A fourth man followed at the two brothers' heels. He was slightly older than Ridgeway and wore a white doctor's coat. "Marv Philber," Maria murmured. "He's been taking care of them since they were babies."

The camera flashes doubled in tempo. Reporters and journalists, microphones at the ready, pressed out of the crowd, screaming questions. Roxanne lost sight of Syx's face; he and the others had been swallowed up by the human crowd.

"Are you aliens, or are your abnormalities just the result of hideous birth defects?"

"What do you intend to do now? Will you take revenge on Metro Dude for exposing you?"

"How did you acquire those holographic projectors? Did you buy them, trade for them, or make them?"

"Did your mother do drugs during her pregnancies? Is that why you're so misshapen?"

"Back off, back off!" hollered Ridgeway. Surprisingly, the media vultures obeyed. "The boys will be giving a press conference on Monday. They won't be answering any questions until then."

Nobody seemed to understand his words. People resumed calling out questions: What are you? Do you come in peace? Warden, would you make a statement?

Maria shoved her way through the crowd just long enough to return Kelly's keys. Unfortunately, her actions reminded the media that even though the Auslanders weren't talking, they weren't the only source of information. They rounded on Maria and Roxanne like starving wolves.

The reporter-in-training (though after tonight, she wasn't quite as certain about her choice of career), squared her shoulders. Syx and Kelly needed time to regroup, to figure out how to present themselves to the slavering public. She did not. She knew nothing about the alien side of their natures, nothing that could hurt them. All she had were memories of friendship, of love, of laughter and play.

She would talk until her throat was dry and her voice cracked. She would make the strange aliens real, approachable, sympathetic, _human._ She would cast doubt on their accuser and vindicate their names.

She told the world about Kelly's skill on the stage and in the kitchen, about Syx's love of alliteration and exaggeration. She told them about the brothers' legendary closeness. She spoke of her relationship with the younger, of how afraid he had been to show himself to her but how he had done it anyways.

She talked until her angry parents showed up, pushed through the crowd surrounding their daughter, and demanded that she come home _now._ Roxanne went quietly- now was not the time to look like a whiny teenager, not when her own reputation could affect that of her friend and boyfriend.

They grounded her, of course, for making a scene- several scenes- in front of the entire city. She accepted the punishment silently. Then, when they had finished shouting, she retreated to her room, closed the door behind her, and hid her face in her hands.

* * *

><p>Poor everyone. Their lives have kind of been ruined.<p>

But don't worry, everyone. Things shall get better. I think.

-Corona


	12. Auslanders Still

_October 9, 1999_

_Tap, tap. _

Roxanne ignored the noise at her window. All she wanted to do was sleep, to find release in a few hours of blissful unconsciousness. Syx and Kelly weren't brothers; they were aliens. Two different species of real, live, genuine, take-me-to-your leader space aliens. She needed time to digest that.

But whenever she closed her eyes, she would flash back to Syx- the real Syx, not the holographic version he'd shown to the world. He had been so scared….

_Tap, tap. _

The girl groaned and flung her pillow at the window. It bounced back onto the floor. She stared at it for a moment, wondering if she wanted to get out of bed long enough to pick it up.

The window opened of its own accord. Suddenly Roxanne was wide awake, eyes bulging, pillow forgotten.

"Roxanne?"

"Syx?"

"May Kelly and I come in?" the invisible boy asked softly.

She pushed herself out of bed. "Come in. Um… where are you?"

The window opened entirely. "Kelly's bike has an invisibility function," Syx's voice explained.

"This apartment is on the fourth floor."

"It can also fly," added Kelly's voice. "Could you give us a hand, please, Miss Ritchie? Syx can't maneuver very well with a broken leg."

"Okay," she mumbled, wondering when she had fallen asleep (there was no way this was happening, so it had to be a dream). "You have a flying bike that can turn invisible. Gotcha." She nodded several times. "Right." Awkward silent. "Um… why are you here? No, wait, you're here because I was thinking about you two before I fell asleep. Duh."

"You're not dreaming, Roxanne," Syx said quietly. "We're really here. If you don't want us to be here, we'll leave. But if you do, could you help me inside so we can explain everything?"

She reached out into the invisibility field. Her hands connected with something hard and rough. She traced it with her fingers. It was a cast in the shape of a leg.

Invisible hands brushed against hers. "We'd turn off the invisibility," Syx sighed, "but your apartment is surrounded with reporters. I really don't want them to catch us sneaking into your bedroom in the middle of the night. It would be very bad for your reputation."

"And yours," she pointed out.

Her boyfriend chuckled ruefully. "I don't think our reputations can get any worse. But thank you. And thank you for defending us- we saw the news." His invisible hand squeezed hers.

"How should we do this?" the girl wondered. "Should we just swing your legs into my room and have you slide down?"

"It's either that or dehydrating myself."

"What?"

"Sorry." Roxanne imagined him blushing red, half-shrugging sheepishly. The reporter-in-training shook herself. She had been seeing the human Syx. The image in her mind became blue and sharp-featured. The blush turned lavender. "I'll explain that later, if we have time. It all depends on which questions you ask."

"Gotcha," his girlfriend agreed. "Are you coming in or not?"

It was exceedingly bizarre to watch two feet, one covered in a pale cast, appear in midair. They were followed by skinny calves, still-thin thighs, and the bottom part of his trunk. "I can't get you in any further. Ready?" asked Kelly's voice.

"Ready," Syx confirmed. He slid fully into the room, blue and big-headed. Roxanne caught him as he staggered, trying to get his balance.

It was a great deal easier for Kelly to enter. As he slipped from the invisibility field, his softly glowing hair lit up Roxanne's dim bedroom, giving it an eerie greenish cast. The girl took advantage of the illumination to examine her boyfriend's injured leg more closely. "You okay, Syx?"

He nodded. "Dr. Philber- he's one of the men who took us home- he gave me some painkillers. And I heal quickly, though I'll probably be in a coma for most of the day." The blue boy hesitated, chewed his lip. "I'm sorry. I wanted to- to be _your _Syx again- but the warden confiscated our spare watches. But it really is me, I promise. You don't have to be scared."

"No!" Roxanne yelped back. Her words were louder than she had anticipated. For a few seconds they were silent, listening for any sign that her parents had woken up. They heard nothing, so the girl continued, "I'm not scared of you. It's just…. Seriously, aliens? _Two _aliens? It's kind of a lot to take in. And you two showing up on a flying bike doesn't help."

"Sorry," Syx apologized, blushing furiously. "It was the only way we could get out. Reporters have completely barricaded the prison."

"Prison?" she repeated.

"Yes," her boyfriend mumbled, "prison. We… it's a long story."

"I'm not going to be able to sleep," she pointed out. "Fire away, I guess." She patted the bed.

The brothers (or whatever they were) sat. Kelly sat between the lovebirds. His hair brightened. "That enough light for you?"

"Uh… yeah." She stared at him, knowing it was rude but unable to look away. Most of his hair (if hair was really what it was; it was too thick and it GLOWED. She wasn't sure if that disqualified it from being hair or not) was dark. Only the paler tips glowed. And his teeth…. How in the world did he kiss Maria with those teeth? Oh, crud, had she really just thought that? Her face reddened.

Kelly mistook the cause of her blush. "You can stare," he assured her. "I'd be kind of concerned if you _weren't _curious. So… yeah…." He fluttered his fins.

Roxanne coughed. "So… Syx… just start saying whatever you were planning to say in the closet."

"Right," the blue boy agreed. "I… like said, we're aliens. Space aliens. But I promise you, we're not at the forefront of any invasion or anything! We…." He trailed off.

"Sixteen years ago, when I was eight days old, our sun turned into a black hole. We don't know why. It just… happened. There was no warning, no time to prepare.

"My parents… it's a long story, but Kelly's clan and mine have been together for generations. His parents knew about a probe that had originally been intended to go to Earth, to start a relationship between our peoples, but the project had been postponed. I don't know why, but I'm not complaining. The pod was old, but my parents were still able to transform it into an escape vehicle for the two of us.

"The probe was filled with information about our homeland… its language, its history, its biology and ecology and environment… nothing about physics or math, because those are universal, but the things that made our civilization unique. Like I said, the pod was originally designed to initiate contact between Lonim'ai and Hyocka Znoo- the third planet from the star Hyocka, Earth.

"When the black hole came, Kelly's parents told mine about the pod. My parents managed to bring us to it- we were very small at the time, only babies, so we could fit inside. It helped that Kelly…." He paused. "We'll show you pictures. But the point is, we survived.

"We landed in the Metrocity Prison for the Criminally Gifted. Warden Ridgeway kept us safe. He kept the government from getting at us. And…. Well, we're alive, aren't we?

"You're probably most interested in the holograms. I made them because last time we tried attending shool, we were bullied. You've never been bullied, but it's awful. So when we learned that we had to go to high shool, I made the holo-watches to keep us safe. That's a good start, don't you think, Kelly?"

The piscine nodded.

Roxanne closed her mouth. "You're the last of your kinds?"

The boys flinched.

Their friend grabbed them in a group hug. "No wonder you want to be conservation biologists," she whispered. "I am _so sorry,_ you two. That's just…."

"I know," Syx whispered, hugging her back. Warm liquid dripped onto her shoulders. "It is fairly awful, isn't it."

She snorted. "Understatement of the century, Syx."

"Messerosyx," he corrected shyly. "My birth name is Messerosyx _khvat'_Kelluerai _dun'_Dazarro Ztanye, but my uncles decided that was a bit of a mouthful and shortened it to Syx. It was either that or Messy, and they didn't want to create a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"Messerosyx," she echoed. "Me-SAIR-row-six. I like it."

The blue boy gave her a look of such adoration that her heart melted. All her lingering reservations- the fear that this Syx was very different from the one she had come to love- vanished in a puff of smoke, never to return.

They sat there in companionable silence for a few moments, human and Pir and Vihiln. Then Kelly shifted. "It's getting light out," he observed. "I'm sorry, Miss Ritchie, but Syx and I have to leave."

"But we haven't showed her your picture yet," his brother pointed out.

Kelly's eyes widened. He dug into his pocket, extracted a single glossy photograph. He pressed it into Roxanne's waiting hands. "Our baby picture," he explained. "And before you ask, the answer is that I tricked him into mapping the human genome, then I used that knowledge to… _alter_ myself."

The girl glanced at the photo, wondering what on earth he was talking about. Her eyes bulged. "That's a fish."

The senior's fins fluttered with embarrassment. "I know. Like I said, _long_ story. And I'm sorry, Miss Ritchie, but we really need to get going. We have to get home before the sun's up." He helped Syx to his feet and half-helped, half-carried him to the window.

"For the last time, you idiotic ichthyoid, it's Roxanne," she reminded him.

He had already climbed out into the hover bike's invisibility field, but she knew he was smiling. "Right. Roxanne."

Syx stuck his upper half through the window. His head vanished, leaving a decapitated body behind. "We'll try to come again tomorrow night," he said, "but we can't make any promises. But we will see you at shool on Monday- you know, at the press conference."

Roxanne grasped his shoulders, pulled him back inside. He blinked at her, not understanding what was going on. Smiling softly, his girlfriend pressed her lips to his. "See you soon, Messerosyx." The blue boy grinned, dazed with bliss.

"Now look what you've done," Kelly teased. "Do you have any idea how hard it'll be to get him onto the bike now?"

That snapped his brother out of it. "Spoilsport," he groused.

Kelly was right; it was very difficult to get Syx onto the bike, even with his full cooperation. The Auslanders were afraid to turn off the invisibility field, so Roxanne couldn't see Kelly or about half of Syx's body. They were also wary of making too much noise in case that woke up the elder Ritchies. But they prevailed, and after several minutes of huffing and puffing and struggling, Syx was firmly mounted on the bike.

Roxanne stared into the city until a gust of cold wind blew into her room. She started, shook herself, shut the window. She brought up the photo Kelly had given to her.

A blue baby, his head as large as the rest of his body, clutched a tiny sphere with a grinning fish inside. The infant had startlingly green eyes; the piscine's irises were golden-brown.

"Why aren't my baby pictures this cute?" she wondered. Shaking her head, the future reporter returned to bed. She placed the picture beneath her pillow, cocooned the blankets around herself, and slept.

* * *

><p><em>October 9- October 10 <em>

The Ritchies found themselves trapped inside their own home. They had to pull down their blinds, disconnect their phones, and avoid answering the door for fear that some unscrupulous reporter would take advantage of their momentary weakness. They briefly reconnected their phone around noon to call Roxanne's sister Renee, who was attending college in Boston. She, too, was besieged by the press and had barricaded herself inside her dorm, frantically awaiting an explanation.

All five Ritchies, even the one who was out of state, spent most of the day by the television, watching the news. It was beyond odd to see their own pictures and home on the TV screen.

Reporters alternated between showing footage from the night before, including clips of the two frightened brothers exiting the school, and "expert" opinions. The "experts" offered their opinions on anything and everything: whether or not birth defects could account for their peculiarities, whether or not they had to be aliens, and what proof of extraterrestrial life meant for America.

More disturbing were the psychologists, who were skilled enough to diagnose Roxanne's many mental illnesses without ever seeing her in person. The reporter-in-training learned that she was brainwashed, depressed, bipolar, schizophrenic…. Oh, and there were radioactive blue eggs growing in her stomach. She wasn't entirely certain how doctors of the _mind_ had decided that, but if it was on the news, it MUST be true.

"Why won't you let me set the record straight?" she demanded at supper that night.

"Because that's not Syx," her mother snapped. "I don't know what it did to him, but that is _not_ Syx."

"But he is, Mom. I _saw_ him change!"

"I think it's Syx," volunteered her younger brother Ryan. He grinned. "Just think. My sister's dating a space alien!"

"Not anymore," his father growled.

"Dad-"

"Eat your dinner, Roxanne."

As the Ritchie family lapsed into cold silence, another, smaller family gathered pictures, court transcripts, legal documents- anything that could help vindicate them. "I'm sorry," Syx whispered.

"For the last time," his brother sighed, "it's not your fault. You had no way of knowing that Scott was watching."

"I should have told her earlier," he answered. "Then he wouldn't have seen."

Kelly laid a webbed hand on his brother's shoulder. "You couldn't have known," he repeated firmly. "Now, how much should we tell them about the kidnapping attempt?"

They couldn't make it to Roxanne's apartment that night. Not even their invisible hover bike could get them through the thick swarm of reporters who had surrounded the prison- a mob that only grew as the rest of the weekend passed.

By eight on Sunday night, over two hundred and fifty camps had been set up around the prison alone. People had swarmed from Japan, England, Botswana, Australia… everywhere under the sun.

And hidden among the multi-tongued throng was a group of American women and men. They dressed all in black, and though they had cameras, a careful observer would note that they never turned their equipment on.

They all- reporter and journalist, American and foreigner, prestigious and obscure- congregated there in front of the prison. And waited.

* * *

><p>Oh noes! The bad guys have appeared. Run, boys, run!<p>

Lonim'ai: l[sound like a low-pitched hoot, no English equivalent] nihm (rhymes with limb) EYE (as in the word)

Hyocka: hee-oh-KHAH

Znoo: (means three) zn[sound like a high-pitched whistle-hoot, no English equivalent]

Hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring. It kind of needed to be done.


	13. Terror All Around

This chapter is dedicated to elthfrae.

* * *

><p><em>March 12, 1990 <em>

Syx flung the sphere out the window. His knees crouched. He _almost_ made it out to freedom- but then the black-clad goon grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him inside. The blue boy choked as his collar dug into his windpipe.

He had always wanted to ride a yellow school bus, so his uncles had spent the summer painting the prison's bus bright sunshine yellow. He had come to trust that yellow, to see it as a refuge. But this yellow bus, the same one he had loved, was no refuge.

And this _was _the same bus; it must have been stolen somehow. The alternative- that the warden had betrayed them- was too painful to contemplate.

The man in black slammed Syx's head against the floor. Spots danced before his eyes. He cried out in pain.

The man pushed him again, and everything went black.

* * *

><p><em>October 11, 1999 <em>

"I'm experiencing a major sense of déjà vu," Kelly's voice muttered.

Syx clutched the bathroom door as though his life depended on it. "We don't have to do this," he babbled. "We can move to Siberia- I hear it's lovely this time of year. No one will find us in Russia. Or maybe the Philippines. I'm sure we could find a deserted island somewhere out there."

"We're not going to hide out in Russia," his brother sighed. "Or the Philippines. No one's going to do anything to us. We'll be on international TV. They _can't _do anything to us. Now come on. Do you really want to be late?"

The blue boy flinched, ashamed. "You're right," he mumbled, opening the door. If only he had half of Kelly's courage… a tenth of it, even. The piscine should have been the dominant partner, not his cowardly brother. "I'm sorry…."

His brother engulfed him in a hug. They stood there for a long moment, Pir and Vihiln, partner and partner. The elder alien was trembling all over. "Come on," he finally whispered. "If we stay here much longer, _I'm_ going to hide out in the bathroom."

"No you won't," Syx muttered back. "But you're right; we should get going. Wouldn't want to be late, eh?" He punched the older boy's shoulder.

Warden Ridgeway was waiting for them by his car. Guards lined the parking lot, keeping the rabid media at bay. Only helicopters got past them. Cameras flashed from inside the machines, memorializing everything. The helicopters would trail them all the way to Metro High, where other reporters would take over their job.

Kelly's skin had acquired a nasty greenish tone. His knuckles were white with strain. His fins twitched back and forth, back and forth.

"You know," he commented when they were perhaps three blocks from the school, "we could probably do this tomorrow. I mean, people are always in bad moods on Mondays. We should wait until a Tuesday. Or a Saturday. That way people will be more likely to accept us."

"What he said," Syx agreed.

"Nice try, boys," grumbled Warden Ridgeway.

"No, seriously," Kelly babbled, "we should-" All color, green and otherwise, drained from his face. They had arrived at Metro High.

The school was packed almost to bursting with media, students, parents, teachers, random citizens- anyone and everyone who could find an excuse to attend. Some were picketers, holding signs with slogans like ETS GO HOME and EARTH IS FOR HUMANS. Others were merely gawkers, wanting a glimpse of two maybe-aliens. (And to think, they hadn't even officially confirmed their extraterrestrial origins yet. There was a tiny faction which believed they were some weird mutant incarnations of a fish and sky god, another that thought they were Atlanteans, another that believed they were genetic freaks.)

And this was just the parking lot. Syx couldn't imagine what things were like inside.

He swallowed several times in a vain attempt to moisten his dry throat. "Come on, Kelly," he rasped. "Let's just get this over with."

No response.

"_Kelly_. I will drag you if I need to. Do you really want me dragging you with a broken leg?"

The older boy's head emerged from the car. "I think that I'm going to throw up."

Syx pressed a hand to his own stomach. The butterflies inside it had wings the size of dinner plates; he knew how his brother felt. "I think that walking will make it feel better." He had no idea if that was true, but motion would at least get them closer to _getting it over with._

He really wanted to get it over with.

Both brothers were stiff as boards as they navigated the packed parking lot. Syx kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, refusing to look at any of the flashing cameras. He held onto their bond with all his strength, reaching deep enough to surpass his partner's emotions and to feel the very makeup of his soul. As always, the thought-feeling-prickle-completeness comforted him.

Through the packed halls, into the gymnasium. By the time they reached the hastily assembled podium, the two boys were half-blinded from flashing cameras, half-deaf from all the shouted questions.

Kelly froze before they sat down. His fins fluttered, slowed, stopped. His brother laid a hand on the piscine's shoulder. He wished that his hand were touching bare flesh; he could only _exchange_ emotions through skin-to-skin contact.

"You ready?" Syx whispered. His brother nodded. His eyes remained fixated on something in the stands. The younger alien followed his partner's gaze and smiled. Kelly's eyes were fixed on Maria's face. Next to her sat Roxanne, dressed all in blue (if that was not a sign of support he would eat his dehydration gun) and more beautiful than ever. She smiled, raised her hand in a wave.

Her parents sat next to her. Neither wore blue. Syx tried to meet their eyes, but they turned away. He flinched.

Principal Takashi pushed through the crowd. Syx sat in the chair someone had left for him. Vihiln were exceptionally fast healers by human standards, but it still hurt to stand for long periods of time. Besides, the prominent cast was good for earning sympathy.

Tanye help him, he needed all the sympathy he could get.

"There has been a great deal of confusion and speculation about Syx and Kelly Auslander," Takashi began. His eyes flitted towards the cameras. A great deal of speculation indeed. "As you are doubtless eager to learn the truth behind the rumors, I will immediately turn the floor over to them."

Syx's heart skipped a beat. That was _it?_ That was IT! He'd expected more of a reprieve, more of a speech before he and Kelly had to talk.

But the students, the parents, the media, everyone was watching him.

Throat dry, wishing miserably that he had brought water, Syx stood and began to speak.

* * *

><p><em>October 11, 1999 <em>

Bernard and his cousin were quickly becoming Roxanne's favorite people in the entire universe.

"It's really incredible, isn't it," the former half-said, half-shouted, "how much the media has managed to uncover about the Auslanders. Hey, cuz, did you know your boyfriend is fattening you up so he can feed you to his dark overlord?"

"I would never have guessed," his cousin replied. She, too, was talking more loudly than normal. The people around them couldn't help but hear. "But if people who didn't know he existed four days ago say it's true, then it's true." She nodded violently.

"But you don't have it half as bad as Roxanne," Bernard continued. "She has _blue eggs_ inside her stomach that are going to rip through her body before turning her into a mindless zombie. Seems a bit redundant to me, the whole zombie thing. I mean, she's already brainwashed, right Roxanne?"

"Sorry, Bernard," she retorted, "but my supreme mind-controlling master has ordered me not to discuss the impending zombie apocalypse. The eggs- which, by the way, are radioactive alien cloning technology filled with miniature Syxes in their _larval stage_- prevent me from disobeying his will."

"Roxanne," her mother hissed.

Bernard stood. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted, "Does anyone know how long it is before the mother ship arrives? Because that's when my cousin gets eaten by the dark overlord, and I'd like to know how much time she has left."

A few laughed, tiny nervous titters, but the tension was so taught that the laughter died quickly.

"It'll be a while," Maria half-yelled. "My mutant radioactive stomach eggs still need to hatch."

"I see. Will these mutant fish-babies also rip through your stomach like the blue clone-things will do to Roxanne?"

"I'm actually not sure," she admitted. "The media hasn't figured that out yet."

The really sad part was, everything the three friends had mentioned had already been said on TV. It seemed that all the 'experts' consulted by the news were either far too fond of sci-fi or closet comic book geeks, because many of the schemes they attributed to the Auslanders wouldn't have been out of place in an underfunded B movie directed by an LSD addict.

"One wonders how the media knows these things," Bernard declared. "Perhaps they have also been in contact with the mother ship."

"Oh, no," Maria replied. "They are the vanguard of light and against the alien dark overlord who's going to eat me once my stomach eggs have hatched and taken over the world. Or done whatever stomach eggs do."

The cousins could have gone on for hours- they had been at it since their arrival and showed no signs of losing momentum- if not for the sudden hush that heralded the brothers' arrival.

Roxanne stared, riveted, as her friend and boyfriend entered the overflowing gym. They both wore expensive-looking suits (black for Syx, brown for Kelly; to think she'd been worried about their financial well-being), but the professional apparel did nothing for their confidence. Both aliens were trembling like kidnapped children.

Kelly, ear fins spasming in a nervous tic, scanned the audience for Maria. He found her; their eyes met. His fluttering fins slowed to a stop.

Syx was wide-eyed and terrified. Even from the bleachers, Roxanne could see the whites of his eyes. His leg was in a cast, she noticed. She looked around for a chair and found two. They were standard-issue school chairs, hard and uncomfortable, but anything was better than standing on a broken leg for who-knows-how-long.

Roxanne had mixed feelings about their painfully obvious terror. On the one hand, she really didn't like to see her friend and boyfriend so afraid. On the other hand, she wasn't the only one to notice their genuine panic.

Fear wasn't the reaction of two monstrous aliens at the vanguard of a massive invasion. Fear was the reaction of two teenage boys who had found themselves in the center of an international controversy- a controversy that might, if the Men in Black (who would have thought they were actually real?) had their way, end their very lives.

So it was good that they were shaking and quaking and sweating. How could those two frightened boys be a threat to humanity? Monsters didn't fear. Monsters didn't gaze at their girlfriend's face for comfort. Monsters didn't touch their heart-brother's shoulder, giving courage and support and love.

But Syx and Kelly did, and they did it without deception or guile. They weren't putting on a show to garner sympathy; they were just trying to get through what must be a waking nightmare.

The blue boy said something to his brother. Kelly nodded. Syx glanced up, saw Roxanne. He grinned sheepishly. For a second, Roxanne could see the other Syx, the blond one, making that same expression. She waved.

He tried to meet her parents' eyes, but the elder Ritchies turned away. The alien's skinny shoulders slumped.

"What was that about?" their daughter seethed. "That's _Syx. _You _know_ Syx. You _like_ Syx."

"That isn't Syx," her mother snapped. "I don't know what it is or what it's done to your boyfriend, but that's not Syx.

"_It_ is a _he._ And _he-_"

Principal Takashi strode through the gym, approached the podium. Syx, realizing that the human was about to give a speech, plopped down into his chair. Kelly followed. He still hadn't looked away from Maria's face.

The principal's speech was short and carefully neutral. He couldn't afford to step on anyone's toes- the Scotts, for one, had a vested interest in proving that the Auslanders were bad news, and they supplied most of the school's sports budget.

Roxanne was fairly certain that Takashi was on the brothers' side. It would have been much easier and more expedient for him to side with Wayne and his filthy rich parents. His neutrality, in a way, was a declaration of support for the two aliens.

Good, the reporter-in-training thought as her boyfriend rose to speak. These guys need all the help they can get.


	14. The Press Conference

_October 11, 1999 _

There were times when being the dominant partner in a clan-bond really sucked. This was one of those times.

He stood there, still favoring his half-healed leg (if they attack, how can I get away?), wishing he'd thought to bring a water bottle. He stared out at the vast crowd, the jungle of cameras and microphones.

Swallow. Inhale. _Go on, Messerosyx. Live up to your name. Be a champion. Be a _hero.

_Destined for greatness,_ his father had said. He was destined for greatness. He could not, would not, let these gawkers steal that from him!

"_Darjot,_" he began. His voice shook, but not as badly as he had expected. "On my dead home planet, that was what you said when you met someone for the first time. So _darjot,_ everyone." He waved awkwardly, not knowing what else to do. He had prepared a script (Kelly had helped, but most of the script was his doing), but he couldn't remember it to save his life.

Gasps and whispers greeted his pronouncement. In a few simple words, Syx had solved one of the greatest mysteries of modern science: are we alone? Only a few people noted that his home planet was _dead._

Syx waited for the tumult to die down before adding, "But you'll probably never need that information, as Kelly and I are the only Pir and Vihiln you will ever meet."

He had their attention now. Good. He signaled. Kelly pressed a button, and a star chart appeared on the projector screen. One of the stars was circled.

"That's where we're from," Syx announced. "Every clear night, we go onto the roof of our house and look at that star. Niminaran, our peoples called it. You know it as Gliese 86. If you want to find it, do that soon, because in about nineteen years you won't be able to.

"Niminaran was about thirty-five light-years from Earth. That means that the light arriving here from it is thirty-five years old. And in nineteen years, astronomers will be able to see the star transform into a black hole.

"I don't know what caused the hole." He spoke faster now, louder, fighting against the stunned exclamations. "I was only eight days old when the sun went black and everything dissolved into panic. Kelly's parents were able to find an abandoned experimental faster-than-light pod. My parents put Kelly and me inside of it. They saved our lives."

He paused again. The picture on the projector changed, showing one of his sketches: two planets, gold and blue, falling into an infinite vortex. Two tiny streaks of light fled away from the dead star's husk.

"I was eight days old. Kelly was just a toddler, only fifteen months old. My parents knew they were risking a lot, sending two babies out into space, but… what choice did they have? It was that or certain death by black hole.

"Anyway, Kelly and I eventually landed on Earth, in the Metrocity- _Meh-tro City-_ Prison for the Criminally Gifted. The warden there, Lee Ridgeway, took one look at us and started planning ways to keep us out of Area 51. He succeeded, obviously, or we wouldn't be here today."

"My turn," Kelly murmured.

"Good luck," Syx whispered back, collapsing into his seat. His legs ached.

Neither Auslander had ever had a problem with stuttering. Mispronunciations, yes, but never stuttering. Nonetheless, Kelly stuttered for his first several words. "A-as you've pr-probably notice, S-Syx and I are- are different species." He wagged his fins for emphasis.

Of all the times for his thespian brother to get stage fright…. Syx nudge the back of Kelly's knee. "Pretend this is _Midsummer's Night Dream,_" he hissed. "You were fantastic in that."

The ichthyoid nodded faintly. He stopped his speech for a few seconds, long enough to gather breath, and began again. "He's Vihiln, and I'm a Pir. Except that while he is a totally normal example of his kind, I am not."

Syx clicked the button, and one of their baby pictures popped up onto the screen. Several girls went _aw_. They'd chosen the photo for that express purpose- make it as cute as possible, and hopefully people would freak out less that Kelly used to be a fish.

The picture showed a blue baby in a teeny onesie crawl-chasing after a round fish in a sphere of water. Both infants were grinning madly. Baby Kelly had turned slightly towards his master and was playfully sticking out his tongue. _Can't catch me!_ he seemed to say.

"Yeah," mumbled the adult Kelly. "That's me in the water. My people, the Pir, are fish. I'm _different _because Earth just isn't a place for talking fish. The short version of the story is that after I realized I couldn't protect Syx as a fish, I tricked him into mapping the human genome. He actually published it- just look for Ronan Blue the Sixth's papers. But anyways, the human genome and the Pir genome aren't that different. It's mostly just that Pir have a different form of guanine. My point… yeah. I changed myself when I was eleven years old." He sat, supremely relieved that that was over. Sweat beaded on his brow, but he didn't brush it away. Instead, he gazed into the audience, searching for their reactions.

The audience was murmuring. No one knew how to take this latest revelation; it brought up way too many philosophical and ethical considerations.

Syx cut them off before their murmurs became too loud. "My brother-" Yes, brother, you blind dolts. Who cares if we're not related? "-mentioned that one of his primary reasons for changing was to protect me. Part of that is just him being a paranoid mama fish-"

"Hey!" the paranoid mama fish snapped. Then he realized that everyone was staring at him and fell silent, blushing scarlet.

"-but he had reason to worry. When I was six years old, someone tried to kidnap us."

The murmurs redoubled.

"We had tried to go to shool- um, _sh-kool_- that year," he mumbled. The picture on the slide changed yet again. A miserable blue boy clutching a fish stood apart from his classmates and their teacher. The other children's faces had been censored- no point in provoking their rich families any more than necessary- but their postures were happy and content. "It did not work out. To put it bluntly, we were bullied. Quite horribly, too."

"Get to the kidnapping!" someone yelled.

Syx nearly jumped out of his skin. He scanned the audience for a moment before giving up and resuming his speech. "Um, yes, the kidnapping. The prison had a little yellow bus that brought me to and from the building. Riding in it was the highlight of my day." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I didn't get out much.

"Anyways, one day in March, someone stole the bus. They called the teacher beforehand and told her I had to come home soon. She was quite glad about that- she didn't like me either- so she had me gather up my things and go outside.

"Neither of us realized that the bus had been taken until it started driving _away_ from prison. Then I realized that we didn't know anyone on board.

"Kelly asked- demanded, really- what they were doing. The driver…." Syx shuddered. The incident was so very _real_ to him. If he closed his eyes, he would find himself back on the bus, clutching his only friend closer in a vain attempt to protect him. "The driver laughed and said that there were people who would give millions 'for a pair of alien freaks.'"

To his relief and amazement, the crowd's murmurs became _angry- _not at him and his brother for existing, but at the people who had kidnapped him. He glanced up at Roxanne and her family, wondering how they had taken it. The reporter-in-training had covered her mouth with a hand. Her expression was downright horrified.

Syx shifted his gaze to his girlfriend's parents. Rebecca's expression was identical to that of her daughter. Ralph seemed angry, but the blue boy couldn't tell anything else from that distance.

"I'm not going to say how we escaped, because the people who took us are still out there and they still don't know all the details. If they knew everything that happened last time and captured us again, they would take steps to prevent another rescue. So please, don't ask about that.

"And yes, their existence was a major factor in our decision to disguise ourselves. We weren't trying to hurt anyone, we just wanted to avoid the bullies and everyone who wants to dissect us." He laughed nervously. "That's not that unreasonable, right? Because I'm fairly certain that you all want your internal organs to stay internal, too." He nodded vigorously.

Kelly stood, walked to his brother's side. Behind them, the slideshow changed to a picture of the two aliens at Halloween. The piscine's sphere had been painted orange like a pumpkin, and Syx was wearing a little astronaut suit. The picture changed again a few seconds later.

The brothers had decided to show random family photos during the question-and-answer portion of their press conference. The constantly changing pictures made them more real, more approachable, and might discourage some of the more personal questions.

"There are some pretty… interesting rumors on television about us," the blue boy continued. "And I'd like to refute a few of them. First off, we have no plans for world domination. We aren't at the forefront of some horrible alien invasion. We don't eat babies. Actually, we don't eat humans of any age, because that would be cannibalism. Or quite close to it, anyways. Our girlfriends are neither brainwashed nor fellow aliens, and they most certainly do _not_ have radioactive eggs growing in their stomachs. Am I missing anything?"

Kelly considered. "We have no intention of siring an army of unholy half-alien spawn. Um… that's all I can think of."

"It's time for questions now," Syx told the crowd. "We have a couple of ground rules. One, don't ask anything... biological." His cheeks flushed purple. "Because that's just embarrassing. Two, please actually _ask questions_ if we call on you. We're going to get enough hate rants in the mail without listening to them today. Um, those are all the rules I can think of, so… fire away."

* * *

><p><em>March 12, 1990 <em>

A normal plastic sphere would have shattered or at least dented when it hit the ground, but Kelly's habitat was constructed of superior materials. He bounced once, twice, but his sphere remained undamaged.

"SIR!" he screamed, spinning back to see the bus.

Something slammed into his sphere. He went flying, head crashing against the habitat's inner wall. He landed in the gutter, dazed and confused and terrified, feeling his partner get farther away every second.

Think! Every cell in his body screamed that he should swim after his partner, his brother, his only friend in the world- but the rational part of his mind knew he couldn't keep up with the bus. He needed a car, and that meant he needed human help.

For the first time, Kelly loathed his fishy form. If he'd been human or even humanoid, Syx couldn't have thrown him off the bus. He would still be on it, biting and fighting for both their lives.

Hating himself, wishing desperately he could go the other way, the little ichthyoid swam home. He kept to the gutters, away from the cars that could crush him.

His flight seemed to last an eternity, but finally, he was home. Which would have been a lot nicer if the door hadn't been shut.

Once again, Kelly cursed his lack of hands. All he could do was scream at the top of his lungs and wait for one of the guards to let him in.

Enrique opened the door. Good. He was one of the nicer guards; he would help. "Take me to the warden," Kelly ordered.

"What's going on?" Enrique demanded.

Something inside him snapped. "I said _take me to the warden!_" he shrieked. _"NOW!" _

The guard's jaw sagged. Kelly was always so polite and quiet- something had to be horribly wrong for him to shout like that. He gathered up the sphere and sprinted to Ridgeway's office.

"WARDEN!" the piscine screamed as he and his escort burst into his office. "!"

"What?" the human asked blankly. Then, as if to prove that he hadn't understood a word the ichthyoid said, he added, "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Syx has been _kidnapped!_" the piscine wailed. "And he's hurt and unconscious and they're taking him farther away from me every second! We have to go rescue him."

Ridgeway's blood ran cold. "Kidnapped?" he repeated.

Kelly nodded. There was a lump in his throat; had he been capable of crying, tears would be streaming down his face.

The warden jumped to his feet. "Sanchez, go get Donaldson and meet me by the bus."

Enrique spun, realized he was still holding Kelly, and turned back to deposit the little alien on his employer's desk. "The bus was taken," the ichthyoid told them. "The people who took Syx- they had the bus."

The warden spat a word that shouldn't have been said around a seven-year-old. "By the car, then," he decided.

"Yes, sir!" Enrique barked. He sprinted away.

Ridgeway grabbed Kelly's sphere and charged to the parking lot. Sure enough, the yellow prison/school bus wasn't there. "What happened?" he demanded.

"The teacher told us that we had to go home early. We went onto the bus but didn't notice that the people on it didn't work here. Then they drove away from the prison, so-" A choked sob escaped his throat. "They're gonna sell him! They're gonna sell him to someone who'll dissect him, and- and-"

He knew that breaking down now was the stupidest thing he could possibly do. Warden Ridgeway needed as much information as he could get if they were going to pull off a successful rescue mission. But he couldn't stop the terrified, heartbroken howls from escaping his throat.

Get a grip, Kelluerai, he ordered himself. Syx needs you. Pull yourself together!

Strong, warm hands grasped his sides. Ridgeway lifted him out of his sphere, into the air. "Sorry about this," he sighed, "but it's the only way I can think of to make you calm down."

Kelly tried to bob his body. It didn't work. He puffed up his cheeks, held his breath.

The lack of usable oxygen actually helped, if only by making him incapable of hysteria. By the time Enrique and Omar Donaldson- two of the best guards in the entire prison and both loyal to the jail's more unusual residents- arrived, Kelly was calm enough to debrief them.

Ridgeway drove like a maniac. From Kelly's description, it sounded like Syx was already heading south on the highway. They'd lost a lot of time, time the little blue boy couldn't afford.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, mouth set in a hard line. _Hold on, Messerosyx,_ he thought. _We're coming._

* * *

><p>Gliese is a real star. I found it on a Wikipedia list of sun-like stars. Its alien name Niminaran is pronounced nih-MIH-nahr-ran.<p> 


	15. Questions Answered

_October 11, 1999 _

In Bernard's humble opinion, the speech portion of the press conference went pretty well. Well, aside from Kelly almost having a panic attack on international TV. That would have really ruined his street cred. But Syx had calmed him down before he could faint or anything, so that was good.

As reporters and journalists waved their hands in the air, silently begging to be picked first, Bernard turned to his cousin. "You're dating a fish?" he muttered. She nodded. "That's kinky."

Maria's face drained of color, then went scarlet. She aimed a kick at her cousin's knee. He almost dodged, but it landed on his shin. "_Ow._"

"Serves you right," she growled, still red in the face.

Syx selected the first questioner, a guy from one of the local stations whose name Bernard couldn't remember. The man stood. The other reporters slumped into their seats. Poor babies, not being chosen first.

"First," began Reporter #1, "I would like to offer you my condolences."

The two aliens didn't quite know how to react to that. "Thank you?" Kelly replied.

Reporter #1 nodded. "We know from interviews with your girlfriends that you two told them- or at least tried to tell them- about your heritage. Why did you do that? Wouldn't it have been easier and more practical to continue lying?"

"I _told_ them why," Maria groused. "I _told _them."

"No you didn't," Bernard reminded her. "You spent the first few hours trying to convince everyone he wasn't going to eat you- good job with that, by the way- and then Uncle Frank locked you in your apartment for the rest of the weekend."

"Oh." She blushed. "Right. I _should_ have told them, though."

Her cousin shrugged. What was done was done, and there was no point in looking at should-haves.

The Auslanders did that weird we-can-talk-without-talking (were they really telepathic, or did they just know each other that well?) thing of theirs. Syx was nominated to answer, probably because they were worried about Kelly having another spaz session.

"When we first decided to build the holo-watches, we knew that we might get close to people. We knew that maybe we'd… find someone." He blushed purple. "And we knew that that could cause a whole different set of problems, because if we actually reciprocated the feelings but didn't tell our girlfriends- well, it could get messy. That and it wasn't _right_ to deceive someone who actually loved one of us.

"Kelly was actually a lot better about this than I was. He told Maria about his peculiarities last May, before they started dating. I was dumb enough to procrastinate, and look at where _that _got me." He scowled.

One of the rules that had been set down by Lee Ridgeway, who had arranged this press conference, was that each news station would be allowed one question and one question only. Reporter #1 sat, and his brethren from other stations surged to their feet.

Once again, the Auslanders did their might-be-telepathy thing. Bernard made a mental note to ask for lessons. He would _love_ to convey that much information in nothing more than glances and tiny half-shrugs. And if they really were telepathic, how cool was that?

"Hey, Maria," he hissed, "do they have some kind of alien mind-to-mind link?"

"They're not telepathic, Bernard," she replied. Her cousin noted that she hadn't denied the existence of a mind-to-mind link and filed that information away for later. "They've just known each other literally since the day Syx was born."

Kelly pointed at a gorgeous black woman. "You're next, Miss…?"

"White," she finished for him. Her voice was brisk and businesslike. "I too would like to offer my condolences."

"Wow," Bernard muttered, "she sounds so sympathetic." Maria elbowed him.

"How much do you remember of your home planet?" she continued, not giving the brothers a chance to thank her.

Syx stepped back. He flinched, glanced askance at his brother, and collapsed into his chair. Bernard wondered which idiot had decided to make the guy with a _broken leg_ stand for his press conference. Shouldn't they have made a shorter podium or something? It would be a lot better than letting Syx kill himself like this.

"Since Syx was only eight days old when the vortex appeared, I obviously have more personal memories of our home world. My earliest memories… I've never been sure, but I _think_ they're from when I was about five months old. They're pretty blurry, though, and don't get clearer until I'm seven months old. So I've got about eight months' worth of memories. They're still pretty clear- as a kid, I spent a lot of time going over them, because I knew that if _I _forgot…." He made a sad, helpless little gesture. "…everyone forgets. Except Syx, of course, but he was only there for just over a week." His ear fins drooped.

Bernard was a cynic. He was disinclined to pity, sympathy, grief- all the softer emotions. Yet looking at the two very human aliens, their shoulders hunched, faces distant, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them. It must really suck, being the last of your species.

The fish person forced himself to perk up. "But that's not everything," he continued quickly. "Our pod was originally intended to start communications between our kinds. It had lots of information on it- basic history, maps, electronic books about our political system, a lexicon. And Syx's parents managed to get two healthcare books on board, one for him and one for me. So it's not like _all _the knowledge will be lost when we die."

Maria sniffled. She wasn't the only one. Quite a few people, even Roxanne's parents, were suspiciously moist-eyed. After all, what kind of monster _wouldn't_ feel pity at that? Even Bernard had to fight back tears.

"NEXT QUESTION!" Kelly yelped. This time, he didn't consult Syx before pointing at a man from one of the local stations. "Fire away!"

"What will you do if the kidnappers you mentioned attempt to nab you again?" he demanded.

"Idiot," Bernard muttered. "Does he seriously expect them to announce their escape plans on international TV?"

Kelly's response was, naturally, a great deal more polite. "Sorry, but that's classified. No comment."

The local man scowled as he slumped down to his seat. His cameraman shoved him. His mouth moved. Doubtless he was chewing out the reporter for his foolish question.

Bernard had seen Reporter #4, a slender blond, on CNN. "What do you intend to do, now that you have been exposed?" she demanded.

Syx, grimacing, got to his feet. "I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no. We have no intention of exacting hideous revaunge on Metro Dude for exposing us."

The blonde's smile became forced. "That wasn't what I meant."

Bernard snorted. He wasn't buying it.

Syx and Kelly obviously weren't buying it either, but after yet another potentially-telepathic conversation, they decided to go with it. "We were planning to be conservation biologists," the blue boy said slowly. "If it's possible, I at least would like to continue on that path." Kelly nodded. "But we haven't talked about it much this weekend, and we don't know if we even can anymore."

"Our only definite plans involve _not dying,_" his brother stressed. "Which really isn't that unreasonable a request."

"He has a point," Bernard muttered.

Their next selection was a petite Japanese woman who needed an interpreter to ask her question for her. "Is Wayne Scott an alien?"

Gasps- some horrified, some stunned- erupted from the audience. The color drained from Bernard's face. Wayne Scott an alien? That would explain _so much:_ how he didn't look like his parents, his obviously inhuman powers, rumors that the Scotts had adopted him…. It made perfect sense.

Metro Dude was just as much of an alien as the brothers he had exposed.

The color drained from Kelly's face. Even his glowing hair dimmed. Syx turned a sickly shade of gray.

Metro Dude was angry enough already.

"Um- um- um-" Poor Kelly looked ready to have another almost-breakdown.

"That's a very good question!" Syx yelped. "But since neither of us is Metro Dude, we probably shouldn't answer that. Next question!"

Bernard idly wondered if there was any way to convince _more_ people that Wayne was an alien. If they had denied it outright, only a few conspiracy theorists would continue to believe that Metro City's hero had extraterrestrial roots. If they'd said that he was, some would believe and others would say that they were lying to get 'revaunge.' But by panicking, by avoiding the question, they had pretty much denounced him.

"I think," the sarcastic boy muttered, "that Metro Dude's going to have to hold his own press conference."

He'd said it to Maria, but his loudmouthed cousin wasn't the one to respond. Roxanne, fire in her eyes, growled out, "Oh, I _hope _so. I have _several_ questions for our dear hero."

Invulnerability or no, Roxanne would make him bleed. Bernard suddenly found himself wondering just who was more dangerous- the densely muscled flying boy with laser vision and super strength or the small, slender, dedicated girlfriend of a blue outcast.

"How many aliens can one school hold?" someone muttered behind him. "And how has no one noticed yet?"

Bernard ignored him. Like thousands of others, he looked at the stunned, still form of Metro Dude. The super's face was slack with shock, his arms limp at his sides. As Bernard watched, the muscular boy's face slowly altered from blank disbelief to defiant rage.

Wonderful. Apparently he hadn't known that little detail about his heritage. Just peachy.

The next questioner had a heavy German accent, but at least he spoke English. "Vhat exactly is your relationship? You mentioned being brothers; vas that merely a cover-up, or vere you telling the truth?"

He had asked the perfect question to wipe the oh-crap-we're-so-screwed expression off the brothers' faces. The Auslanders actually grinned.

"Our clans have been together for generations," Kelly said proudly. "Sixteen hundred years. Hundreds of members of my clan have been raised by his and vice versa. His parents adopted me, and if our home world had survived until Syx's seventh birthday, we would have gone to live with my parents for the next seven years." His smile faded.

Syx took over. "And we grew up together as the only survivors of our respective peoples. That forms a bond, so no, we weren't lying when we introduced ourselves as the Auslander _brothers._ Because that's exactly what we are."

Someone began applauding. Syx jumped, eyes wide with shock. The applause grew louder, more widespread. A few people even stood. The brothers blushed furiously, purple and pink, and ducked their heads.

A woman two rows in front of Bernard's group turned towards Maria and Roxanne. She gave them a thumbs-up. "Why isn't my boyfriend like that?" she called, then winked. "He'd never admit to actually liking his sibs unless his life depended on it."

"We're just insanely lucky," Roxanne laughed, not halting her applause.

"Next question?" the blue (now lavender) boy asked once the clapping had died down a bit. The people who had been giving him and Kelly a standing ovation, Roxanne and Maria among them, hurried into their seats.

"This is going a lot better than I thought it would," Maria whispered to her cousin and her friend. Roxanne nodded vigorously.

Bernard bobbed his head. "Yeah. I thought they would've run screaming by now. All the way to Siberia."

His cousin shoved him. She looked ready to say something, but her retort was halted by yet another reporter wanting to know what the brothers intended to do with all their alien knowledge.

Neither Auslander seemed to understand what she was saying. "Could you repeat that?" Syx asked.

The reported changed her phrasing. "What I'm trying to say is, you mentioned that your escape pod has knowledge of your home planet. Do you intend to do anything with that information? Will you publish it, horde it, make some parts public and keep others to yourself? Will you keep certain _kinds_ of knowledge private but publicize everything else?"

"You're sure they're not telepathic?" Bernard muttered as the brothers did their silent exchange thing _yet again._

"Positive," his cousin grumbled. "They just know each other really, really well. They're like Dad and your mom, except they don't talk about your nonexistent social skills a whole lot."

The grumpy boy nodded. His mother and Uncle Frank had perfected their conversation about how he was a socially maladapted oddball, and where had she gone wrong? (Frank's answer: She hadn't. Bernard was just different, that was all. Now quit whining and deal with him.)

"We haven't really thought about what to do with that knowledge," Syx confessed. "So much of our lives has been taken up with _hiding_ our heritage. We've shared a lot of the information with the men who raised us, but we never thought about taking it further. Kelly has considered publishing some of the less strange folktales as fictional children's books, but that's the closest either of us has ever come to telling the world about our home planet."

"We'll think about it," the ichthyoid decided. He smiled shyly. "It would be kind of nice, I think, to tell people the old stories."

The brothers were fairly distracted as they selected their next candidate. Their minds were doubtless filled with fantastic fairytale visions of humans running around saying _"Darjot"_ and discussing how cool the latest story from Lonim'ai was. Had they been thinking, Syx would never have pointed at the most rabid of their detractors, Steven Smith.

Bernard groaned. He didn't know a whole lot about the media- that was Roxanne's thing, not his- but even he knew that Smith's station had been the most ardently anti-Auslander show out there. The reporter had demanded, loudly and repeatedly, that the brothers should be dissected, enslaved, and experimented on, then dissected again to see how the experiments had rearranged their internal organs. He also wanted Roxanne, Maria, and everyone the brothers had ever spoken to (including Metro Dude) to be 'decontaminated' at Area 51. How long the 'decontamination' would take, no one knew.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" he snarled. "Why should we trust you little freaks?"

The brothers pulled up short, doubtless wondering why in the world they had selected _him._

"You haven't shown us any proof that you're harmless," the angry reporter continued. Bernard idly wondered when Smith would start foaming at the mouth. It couldn't be long now. "I say we lock them up until they prove themselves!"

The day before, his pronunciation would have been greeted with shouts and murmurs of agreement. Then the crowd would have whipped out the torches and pitchforks and chased the terrified brothers straight to Area 51 before turning on their human 'collaborators.'

But the people in the gym had heard the tragic story of the death of Niminaran and its daughter planet. They had seen the terror- very real, very human- in the brothers' eyes. They had listened to proud proof of the Auslanders' friendship, the culmination of sixteen centuries of love and trust between their clans. They'd heard Kelly's frightened stammers as he revealed his own deepest secret. They'd seen Syx support him, help him. They'd seen purple blushes and dozens of family pictures.

Boos erupted from the crowd. A few people threw the contents of their pockets in Smith's direction. The barrage of used Kleenexes and pencils didn't make contact, but it was enough to startle the unpleasant reporter out of his rabid rant.

"Anyone have any rotten tomatoes?" Bernard asked.

"I wish," Maria muttered.

The microphone shrieked. Several of the Kleenex-throwing protesters flinched, covered their ears.

"Sorry!" Kelly yelped. His voice was higher-pitched than normal, his face pale with panic.

"Let's answer the question!" Syx yelled. "You know we're telling the truth because we've been telling the same story for years. Ever since we first arrived on Earth and learned English, we're been telling our guardians about these things. They can confirm it!"

"Brainwashing!" Smith roared.

"It is _not_ brainwashing!" the blue boy cried. "Can't you understand that? We just want to survive!"

"Lying monsters!" the fanatic screamed. He jumped out of the stands. Something dark and metallic flashed in his hands.

Kelly tackled his brother to the ground, shielding him with his own body. The first bullet whizzed past, just barely missing the empty air where Syx's shoulder had been a moment ago. The blue boy toppled the podium on top of himself and his protector, creating a makeshift shield against more bullets.

Screams- a flash of white-

"I do not freaking _believe_ this…."

Metro Dude held the unconscious reporter by the collar, an expression of absolute disgust on his face.

The one who had exposed the Auslanders had just saved their lives.

* * *

><p>But, I wonder, was it really the Auslanders he saved? There were a lot of other people there, and saving everybody was very good for his image. One wonders...<p>

-Corona


	16. Of Glau and Guns

_March 13, 1990 _

Halfway through the morning, and that blue kid hadn't showed up yet. Wayne wasn't worried, per se, especially not for _him_, but he was slightly concerned. When the villain was in class, Metro Dude could at least keep an eye on him. Who knew what the mutant and his mutant fish were up to?

He expressed his concerns to Miss Doe about an hour before lunch. The teacher seemed surprised by his concern. "Oh, the freaks? Don't worry about them."

Wayne glared. "I'm not worried about them," he snapped. 'I'm worried about what evil villainous things they might be up to. What if they're making a paint bomb that'll turn us all into ugly blue freaks?"

Doe smiled. It was not a nice smile, not a pretty smile. On the blue kid, Wayne would have called it _sinister._ But his teacher was normal, and she liked him. She wasn't an evil villain like they were. "Don't worry about what they're doing. The guards at Area 51 won't let them do _anything_."

"Area 51?" The name sounded vaguely familiar, but the young super couldn't remember where he'd heard it before. "What's that?"

The smile widened. "A place where freaks like them belong. A prison suitable for a blue mutant and his fish."

"Oh."

"It's a prison for aliens," she continued. "They'll be experimented on for a few years, I suspect."

"What kinds of experiments?" Wayne asked, eyes wide. Then something occurred to him. "Hey. If they're in this Area 51 place, how am I supposed to bring them to justice?" It didn't make sense. The villain had to be near the hero for the hero to defeat him and destroy his evil plots. He didn't know where Area 51 was, but it didn't sound like a place in Metro City.

Doe shrugged. "Villains are like rats. They always come back sooner or later. I just hope that once they come back, they'll have finally figured out that Earth doesn't want alien freaks like them."

* * *

><p><em>October 12, 1999 <em>

The day after the press conference, Wayne opted to stay home for school. He wasn't sick, he just needed a mental health day.

The super stared blankly out the window. It was sunny and gorgeous outside, unseasonably warm for the middle of autumn.

He had confronted his parents shortly after returning home. Steve Smith's question had been the last anyone had asked; the assassination attempt had, for obvious reasons, put a bit of a damper on the press conference.

He, Wayne Scott, son of Lord and Lady Scott, was an alien. He didn't look it- he, unlike the other extraterrestrials, appeared human- but _he wasn't human. _He had been taken from a white-and-gold spaceship as an infant, a Christmas gift from the very heavens.

Why hadn't his parents ever told him? Had they been that desperate for a son to call their own, desperate enough to lie?

And then, even worse, they had thrown the pod away! Now it was in Metro City's dump, buried under heaps of slimy garbage, its gleaming metallic hull scarred forever.

The only place he could get information about that part of his heritage was- but alien or not, he still had his pride. There was _no way_ he would go groveling to the Auslander 'brothers' to beg for knowledge. No matter how much he wanted to know.

Maybe he could find some kind of compromise. If Syx and/or Kelly mentioned something about other aliens and he just happened to overhear it, he hadn't stooped to their level.

With that thought in mind, he flung open the window and soared out.

His peers often asked what it was like to fly. He had boasted of the incredible freedom, the sheer joy, but those were lies. To him (and probably his unknown alien people), flight was as natural as walking was for humans. It wasn't exhilarating at all, just another part of him.

Appropriately enough, the blue kid and his pet/bodyguard/fellow mutant/brother/friend/whatever lived in prison. Wayne hovered nine hundred feet above the jail's exercise yard and activated his X-ray and super visions.

The cafeteria was packed with orange-clad men, but no flash of blue caught his eye. Frowning, he turned, scanned the hallways. Guards in blue uniforms… blue carpet in the greeting room… there.

Megamind lay on a table in the medical bay. His broken leg was propped up in front of him, and his… whatever Kelly was… sat next to him. They were listening to a pleasantly plump man in a doctor's uniform.

Metro Dude's hearing sharpened.

"All right then, Syx. I'll get the saw."

"Thanks, Dr. Philber." The blue boy sounded relieved.

"The only thanks I want from you is a promise that this is the last time I'll ever have to do this."

Megamind grimaced. "I don't think I can promise that," he confessed quietly. "But I can promise to try."

Philber sighed heavily. "That'll have to do."

When the physician went to fetch his saw, Megamind turned to- Metro Dude frowned. 'Kelly' was not a villainous name suitable for the big baddie's henchman. He would call the fish… Minion. Because he was a villain's evil minion.

No one had ever accused Wayne Scott of creativity.

"How come we're not invulnerable?" the blue boy whined.

"Because we're not Glau?" Minion suggested. He shrugged. "And thank the Clan Founders for that."

A Glau. Was that what he was, a Glau? The super grinned. This espionage thing was already paying off.

Philber returned with a saw. "Good thing you're such a fast healer," he murmured.

"It would be a lot nicer if I was invulnerable," Megamind sighed, "but I'll settle for fast healing. Even if it did knock me into a coma for half of Saturday."

"Have you ever seen what happens to humans after their broken legs heal?" asked Minion. "Their muscles are all shriveled up and _disgusting._ I bet they'd prefer a day-long coma to all the therapy they need to get their strength back."

"Good point," the blue boy muttered. "But I'd still like to be invulnerable."

His fish rolled his eyes. "I suppose you'd also like mind-control rays emitting from the top of your head, huh?"

Wayne blinked. What in the world? He didn't have mind-control rays emitting from the top of his head. At least, not that he knew about- and he would probably know about something like that.

But yesterday, he had said the same thing about being an alien: I would have known. And look where he was today. He was a Glau.

…But mind control was a villainous superpower. He was a hero. Therefore, he didn't have any villainous characteristics like mind-control rays in his head. Worries assuaged, he returned his attention to eavesdropping.

Dr. Philber had finished removing Syx's cast. The blue boy flexed his calf, turned his ankle in little circles. "Much better," he sighed. "Have I mentioned hating broken limbs?"

"Once or twice," the doctor noted.

_Come on! Talk about the Glau some more!_

"Dr. Philber, what do you think about spreading the information from our homeland?" asked Minion. Wayne glared at him. The flying boy's eyes widened. What in the world was on the fish freak's arms?

He could only describe the unnatural structures as fins. Greenish, vaguely triangular fins that sloped out from his wrists and ended abruptly at his elbows. At their widest point, just before his elbows, they were about three or four inches across.

Metro Dude forced himself to stop gawking. Minion was a mutant talking space fish who had somehow turned himself into an almost-human being. Of course he had weird characteristics- just look at those teeth and that glowing hair and the enormous mobile _fish fins _sticking out from his head. What was another set of finny things next to all that?

"I think it's a good idea," the doctor told his charges. "If people see how rich and real your peoples' culture was, they're less likely to turn on you. And if you publish the medical texts your parents sent you, people will have less of an excuse to cart you away for dissection."

The conversation turned to a discussion of what they should publish and what order they should publish it in. Wayne floated with a scowl on his face. Only the thought that they might mention the Glau kept him from stalking off in frustration.

His patience was rewarded. "Should we tell them about the First Contact with the Glau?" Megamind wondered.

Minion shook his head with such force that his fins slapped against his nose. "No. No no no no no. That's just a _bad _idea. If we tell them about the Glau, _someone _will connect the dots and realize that Scott isn't human."

_Jackpot. _

"I think they realize that already," Philber pointed out. "You two panicking when what's-her-name asked was kind of a giveaway."

The piscine groaned, hid his face in his hands. "Is it too late to move to Siberia?"

"Probably."

"…We should have moved to Siberia when we had the chance. Why did we stay here again?"

"Because Warden Ridgeway made us," Megamind grumbled. "And we don't have passports. And there's a mob outside that will pounce on us the second we try to escape."

Minion groaned again and rubbed his temples.

"But you're right, Kelly," his master continued. "We probably shouldn't tell about the First Contact- at least not yet. No need to exacerbate an already bad situation."

"Sure about that, boys?" Philber raised an eyebrow. "Maybe if the Scott boy knew he was like you, he'd be a bit more sympathetic to you."

"And I have mind-control powers," Minion snorted.

"Or you could try to negotiate with him," the physician suggested. "Information on the Glau in exchange for being left alone."

Megamind tilted his head. "You think that would work?"

Of course it wouldn't, Wayne wanted to tell them. He would never ignore their villainous doings, no matter how much they could tell him about his alien heritage. Besides, they would probably lie anyway. Villains were liars by definition, and these two were more deceitful than most. Poor, deluded Roxie was proof enough of that.

"It might," Philber shrugged. "At the very least it would earn you some brownie points."

The blue boy nodded. "We'll think about it."

"You realize that he'll think we're lying," Minion grumbled. "He has a vested interest in hating us. Two interests. First, he wants Syx to be his professional punching bag. Second, if we're good and trustworthy people, then he was wrong to expose us. And he's Wayne Scott the Mighty and Magnificent. He _can't_ be wrong."

"You mean he won't let himself be wrong," Megamind corrected. "And he'll go to any length to make himself right- even if it requires changing the truth."

The topic of their derision clenched his fists. More proof that the villains were nothing but dishonest crooks. '_Changing the truth'_? He was a hero! He upheld the truth! And of course he had a vested interest in- not hating, because that wasn't a particularly heroic emotion- but certainly _disliking_ and _distrusting_ them. They were villains, a criminal megamind and his minion. Liking them was against every rule in the book.

"You don't have to decide right now," the doctor commented. "Lee's not letting you anywhere near that school of yours until Monday at the earliest. You won't have to see the Scott boy until then."

Megamind perked up. "Maybe he's been expelled. I mean, he _did _break my leg and dislocate Kelly's shoulder."

Wayne's jaw sagged. Him, expelled for exposing the evil in their midst? Preposterous! If anyone should get expelled, it was the villains!

Minion's face acquired a dreamy cast. "Wouldn't that be _nice_?" He grinned, exposing his demonic shark's teeth. Then the smile faded. "But it's not going to happen."

"If anything, he'll be suspended," Philber noted.

Suspended? _Suspended_? He was the good guy! Alien or no, he was still a hero. He had a hero's powers, and his mother claimed he had a hero's heart (whatever that meant). Heroes didn't get suspended.

"Too bad that will never happen," the piscine lamented. "Because a super powered thug stalking us is the last thing we need."

The super powered _hero_ (he was NOT a thug) grit his teeth. They obviously weren't going to say anything more about the Glau, and he was not just going to float here and be insulted. He had better things to do with his time, like schedule a press conference to tell everyone what had _really _happened. There wouldn't be any assassins at his press conference, though, so no innocent civilians would be in danger. That was more than he could say for _those two. _

Sulking, he flew back home. The window to his room was closed.

His mother, red-eyed and blowing into a delicate lace handkerchief, waited at his desk. "What's wrong, Mom?" Wayne asked, worried.

"My baby," she sniffled, "my poor baby boy…." She hiccupped.

"Who did this to you?" her son demanded.

"No one," she whispered. She chewed her lip, trying to figure out how to break the news. In the end, she settled for the direct approach. "Wayne, honey, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but…." Another hiccup. "You've been suspended."

* * *

><p><em>March 12, 1991 <em>

"There's the bus." Kelly's voice was firm, resolute.

"I see it," Lee murmured. His grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"What now?" asked Enrique. "I have my gun. Do we just shoot?"

"Not unless we want the police involved." Lee could hardly believe that those words had escaped his mouth. He was a warden, an officer and servant of the law. Yet if he hadn't _not_ wanted the police involved, he would have ordered the guards to shoot. "Which we don't."

"Then what can we do?" Kelly sniffled.

"That bus is a gas-guzzler," his guardian explained. "I've driven it enough times to know that. It'll pull over soon. Then, when they go into the gas station to pay, we can break in and get Syx out. But just in case…" He turned to the two guards. "Keep one hand on your guns."

They nodded, jaws set.

"I'm coming too," Kelly insisted. "I know how to pick locks and hot-wire cars. If we have to run, I can tell you how to steal the bus back."

"You're a fish."

"You can carry me."

"How did a fish learn to pick locks?" Enrique wondered.

"I was there when our uncles taught Syx. I might not have hands-" He looked and sounded miserably guilty about that "-but I know the principles."

"All right then," announced Ridgeway. "Here's the plan. Omar, you follow them into the gas station. Enrique and I will take Kelly to the bus, which we'll drive back to… that one town twenty minutes back had an old, abandoned gas station. Omar, that's where we'll rendezvous. We can just leave the bus there- this car is faster, and I want to get back as soon as possible."

The guards saluted.

Half an hour later, the bus pulled into a gas station. The warden and his group followed.

They waited in tense silence as a black-clad goon filled the bus's tank before heading into the station. His comrade remained in the bus, a dark figure sitting half-asleep in one of the seats.

Lee and Enrique slunk towards the bus's door. Kelly whispered instructions. Enrique forced the door open.

"Hey!" yelled Syx's guard, jerking awake. "Who the-"

Enrique pulled his gun, aimed it at the man. He froze, fell silent. "Get off the bus," the man growled.

"Y-you wouldn't shoot me." But his voice wavered.

"Want to bet?"

The man fled.

"He left the keys in the ignition," Ridgeway observed. "Good. That means we won't have to hot-wire it."

"What are you waiting for, then?" his employee snapped. "He's calling the police right now. Drive us out of here!"

Lee obeyed.


	17. Back to School

_October 18, 1999 _

Getting shot at was the best thing that could have happened to Syx and Kelly Auslander.

Nothing changes public opinion like attempted murder. Before Smith had fired his gun, most of the country had been in a mindset that can be summed up like this: "Why would those heinous alien freaks have hidden themselves away like this unless they were up to something nefarious?" Now their attitude had reversed to "No wonder the poor kids disguised themselves! I'd have done the same."

Due to the more pro-alien mood, the Men in Black had been forced to retract their demands for the brothers' corpses. Their head had even issued a public apology, which Syx and Kelly had accepted via public letters.

They had been using public letters a lot lately, creating a new one every day. They could hardly hold another press conference after the disaster at the first, so they communicated entirely through the written word. Every night they would listen to the most pressing questions people were asking on the news before writing down their answers. In this way, they had gotten a huge quantity of information to the public without endangering themselves.

But despite their new popularity, a few holdouts still insisted that the brothers should be killed, enslaved, deported (though to where, they had no idea), dissected, vivisected, and/or captured. The Auslanders weren't in as much danger as before, but that didn't mean they were safe.

That was why, instead of sleeping for as long as possible before their first day back at school, they had dragged themselves out of bed and into Warden Ridgeway's office.

"It's official," Syx grumbled, fighting back a yawn. "I hate Mondays."

"You, me, and the rest of the world," his brother agreed. The piscine wasn't able to force back his yawn. His jaw stretched inhumanly wide, almost too wide for his hand to cover. "Sorry, Warden."

"It's fine," the human sighed. "Just try not to do it again. Yawns are contagious."

Kelly nodded. His eyes were half-closed.

"Why are we up so early again?" Syx groaned.

"Because the officers wanted to get you to campus as early as possible," Ridgeway reminded them. "You thought it was a good idea when they suggested it."

"I didn't realize we'd have to get up at _four in the morning,_" the blue boy whined. "Even space aliens need their sleep."

"I told you to go to bed early, remember?" Lee said.

"I did too," Kelly mumbled. "And we tried, we really did. We just couldn't sleep."

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Ridgeway called. The door opened, and two uniformed policemen stepped into the tiny confines of his office. The first was tall and broad, a solid mass of muscle. His head was shaved bald, but judging from the Chinese cast of his face, his hair would have been black. The second policeman had a runner's build and an air of easy competence. Ridgeway allowed himself a tiny smile. It seemed the station had sent its best to protect his boys.

"Officer Charlie Ming," the first introduced himself. "My partner, Abe Forrest. We know who you are, of course."

"Of course," Syx murmured. Beside him, Kelly pinched himself. "Nice to meet you," the blue boy continued, holding out his hand.

Once the initial round of handshakes and greetings was over, the men returned to business. "We've already gone through the school," Forrest announced. "Syx's locker was filled with moldy blueberries and Kelly's with dead fish, which we _could _change into a highly illegal death threat if you felt like it, but there weren't any bombs or threats of that type."

Kelly considered. "I'll let it pass," he eventually decided. "If we dealt with everyone who hates us, we wouldn't have time for anything else. Right, Syx?"

"Right," his brother agreed.

"Thank you for searching," the piscine added quickly.

"Thank the janitor." Ming had a slow, deep voice that was equally suited for soothing children and commanding cops. "He's the one who had to clean them."

Syx flinched. "Note to self- send him a very nice thank-you card."

"The building's been under lockdown since then, so there's no way anyone got anything threatening in," Forrest continued. "That doesn't mean people can't bring in weapons today, but that's what we're for." He cracked his knuckles.

"Thank you," Syx said, very quietly. "You have no idea how much this means to us."

Kelly nodded. His eyes were fully open; it was hard to be sleepy when discussing matters of life and death. "Is there any way to repay you?"

Ming laughed. His partner beamed. "I can't think of anything," he chuckled, "but I'm sure Charlie can. Right, Chuck?"

"Shut it," the other officer replied.

The brothers watched him expectantly. "Might as well tell them," Lee commented dryly. "They'll bother you all day otherwise."

"It's true. We will," Syx promised.

The policeman hesitated. "Mind meeting my children? Not now, of course, but once things have settled down a bit. My daughter thinks you're the neatest things on the face of the Earth, and my son…." His expression became embarrassed. "He's very into sci-fi."

The aliens blushed. "That doesn't sound too onerous," Syx mumbled. "What do you think, Kelly?"

"It's fine with me if it's fine with you."

"Thanks." Ming still looked embarrassed. "That'll make their day."

"If it gives you extra incentive to keep us alive," the blue boy deadpanned, "I'll do it."

The officer scowled. Kids, blue-skinned or fish-finned or not, shouldn't have to think like that. "I'd keep you alive anyways," he snapped. His voice was sterner than he'd intended. The brothers flinched. Ming flinched too. "Sorry," he apologized. "But I'm not protecting you because of what you can do for me. I'm here because while you might not look human, you're human where it counts."

"_Tand,_" Syx murmured.

Ming glanced at Forrest, who shrugged.

Kelly noticed their confusion. "_Tand_ is a term from our native language that sums up what you were referring to. It doesn't translate into English very well, but it's the quality of humanness or sentience. Creatures that are _tand_ have the ability to grow mentally and spiritually, to make decisions and learn from them, to love and make friendships. Basically it means you have a soul, with all the good and bad that having one implies."

"_Tand,_" Forrest repeated. The word tasted strange, exotic, alien. He liked it.

"That's it exactly," his partner agreed. "Now come on. Don't want to be late, do you?"

"It's six in the morning," grumbled Syx. He yawned for emphasis. "No one knows we're going back to shool today."

"School," Kelly interjected absently.

"Whatever. My point is, people won't be hanging around Metro High because they won't expect us, so traffic will be light. We couldn't be late to shool if we tried."

"School," the other males chorused.

Syx stuck out his tongue.

* * *

><p><em>October 18, 1999 <em>

"If your alien boyfriend shows up, tell him hi!"

Roxanne rolled her eyes. "You've been saying that for days, Ryan."

"He has to show up eventually," her younger brother pointed out. "He and Kelly weren't suspended. Just Metro _Dud_."

"That's enough, Ryan," his mother interrupted. "Have a good day at school, Roxanne." She hesitated. "And if you _do_ see them…."

"I know, I know, I'll tell them that you're sorry for thinking that they were evil aliens who kidnapped and replaced the real Auslanders. Bye, Mom, Ryan." She slipped out of the car.

Metro High seemed a lot emptier without the Auslander brothers. No dazzling smiles in chemistry class, no homemade cookies at lunch, no bubbling enthusiasm…. She missed them. Maria and Bernard were great, but nobody could replace Syx and Kelly.

Lost in a haze of depression, she didn't notice the electric charge in the air. She didn't hear the whispered rumors- they're back!

She _did_, however, notice the crowd squeezing itself into the chemistry classroom. The reporter-in-training grimaced. She had been mobbed by her classmates before, but she'd thought that they wouldn't do that anymore. Then she realized that they weren't paying any attention to her.

Roxanne froze, strained her ears. There, at the very edge of hearing….

A huge smile broke across her face. She shoved through the crowd, heedless of their startled yelps of protests.

The students had backed Syx and Kelly into a corner. The younger alien was talking, presumably answering a question. Two men in police uniforms flanked the brothers. Their eyes scanned the crowd.

Kelly glanced up, saw the beaming Roxanne. He grinned, elbowed Syx. The blue boy didn't stop talking. He waved a dismissive hand at his brother, annoyed at the interruption.

The piscine rolled his eyes, shook his head. He met Roxanne's gaze and nodded dryly. _Yep, this is Syx all right._

It was so typically _them_ that the girl burst out laughing.

Syx froze in mid-word. His luminous green eyes went very wide. Then he snapped his large head around, fixating on the source of the laughter.

"Roxanne!" he cried gleefully. He darted forward but couldn't penetrate too deeply into the crowd. "Roxanne!" Grinning ecstatically, waving wildly, he struggled forward.

The crowd parted for both the boy and the girl. They met in the center of the room. Syx, still grinning pointed ear to pointed ear, grabbed her 'round the waist and swung her in a circle. He was stronger than he appeared, much stronger. "You're here!"

"Where else would I _be_, you big blue twit? It's a school day."

"I don't know," he confessed sheepishly. "Hiding from the press in Siberia?"

She rolled her eyes and kissed him.

The room burst into applause. Wolf whistles echoed. Cheers resounded. Even the stern-looking policemen joined in the celebration.

Syx turned his head. The rest of his body hugged his girlfriend tight. "Officers, this is Roxanne Ritchie, the most beautiful, incredible, intelligent, kind, and all-around _fantastic_ woman in the world. Roxanne, these are Charlie Ming and Abe Forrest from the Metrocity Police Department."

"Metro City," corrected roughly half the room.

"You know what I mean!"

"Excuse me. Excuse me!" Their teacher shoved her way through the crowd. "You all have classes now, as do I. Leave, or I'll give you all detentions for interrupting lessons. Syx, Kelly, nice to have you back. You can pick up the assignments you missed after class."

Grumbling, the crowd dispersed.

The rest of the day continued in that vein: crowds wherever the brothers went (which was very awkward whenever they needed to use the bathroom), joyous reunions with their friends, and strong-willed teachers doing their utmost to calm everyone down. Despite their best efforts, the educators were unable to stop their pupils from gawking at their alien classmates throughout most of the lesson. Not even the threat of detention could stop the stares.

In the end, the Auslanders assured their teachers that they didn't mind. It wasn't exactly the truth, but it was a lot more efficient than struggling against the stares.

By the time the last bell rang, the brothers' mood had improved significantly. No one had threatened them with death, dismemberment, or dissection. Their teachers had been much more accepting than Jane Doe. The few classmates who still disliked them had been kept far, far away. Metro Dude wouldn't be back for another two days. And they had two tough personal bodyguards to keep them safe from the crazies.

In other words, life was good.

But Murphy's Law would not be denied. It had simply wanted to lull the paranoid partners into complacency before striking fast, hard, and dirty.

They paid little attention to the assorted media vehicles filling the parking lot. The brothers had become used to cars, buses, and even helicopters hovering around them. A couple of these helicopters were a bit closer than normal, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Then a gun fired. Ming's eyes widened as he clutched at his chest. The gun fired again. A bullet shot into the ground near Forrest's feet.

The Auslanders dove for cover- Syx to the right, Kelly to the left. Forrest fumbled for his gun, but never got a chance to use it. Smoke bombs exploded from within the lot's cars. It was thick and greasy, blinding everyone completely.

People began to scream.

Not Syx, though. Screaming had never served him, and he didn't have the breath for it. He coughed, choking on the chemical-filled air.

Someone grabbed at him. Yelling, he kicked his captor's shins. A woman's voice cursed. Her grip slackened. Syx twisted away.

Kelly. They had come for him and Kelly, so he had to find Kelly. He had to make sure-

He grabbed at their bond, spinning to face his hidden brother. Then pain not his own washed through him. He sensed Kelly collapse, unconscious and injured.

_No._ Clan Founders, no.

Sirens howled; the police were on the way. Syx had no doubt that one of his bodyguards had summoned them.

"Get out!" a male voice yelled. "Get out!"

The air throbbed with the force of the helicopter's propeller. The smoke began to disperse. Syx charged towards his brother, but something hit his face. His nose shattered as he staggered backwards, clutching his wounded head.

He sensed Kelly's body move- too quickly for a mere human to carry him. A car engine snarled, roared, as it propelled a nondescript news van through the crowd. People scattered. The two too-close helicopters hovered over the vehicle, guarding it.

"_NO!_"

Syx lunged towards the disappearing car. Strong hands grabbed his shoulder, jerked him back. "Kelly, no! Let me _go!_"

"It's too late," whispered Forrest.

"No, no, _xih!_" He struggled against his captor, begging for release in a mix of English and his alien language, but in vain.

"I'm sorry," the officer moaned, "but your brother is gone."

* * *

><p>We were all expecting them to strike from the shadows. Instead, they struck in broad daylight- and so everyone was unprepared.<p>

The canon Megamind could take lessons from these guys. Always go for what they least expect, and you shall succeed.

This chapter is dedicated to cyrrus25.


	18. Taken

_October 18, 1999 _

Roxanne stared dully at the TV screen. She felt like she should cry, but the shock blocked out her tears. Things had been going _so well…_ and now this? It was absurd, even less believable than the brothers being aliens in the first place.

But she did not need to cry. Maria, sitting next to her on the Ritchie family's couch, had shed enough tears for both of them. Even now she sniffled and hiccupped, clutching the hands of Roxanne and her cousin Bernard.

The boy in question was silent, his usual sarcasm gone. He patted his cousin's hand awkwardly, with the air of one who has no experience with comforting others but is nonetheless determined to try.

Ryan trotted into the room with a fresh box of tissues, which he handed to Maria. The senior smiled weakly to thank him. The boy shrugged, embarrassed, and returned to his face on the floor.

He had arrived not a moment too soon. Even as he made himself comfortable, the TV changed from a commercial to the news.

Angie Anchor, grim and pale, stood in the parking lot of Metro High. A part of Roxanne, the part not paralyzed by shock, wondered if the woman was acting or if she really had changed her mind about Syx and Kelly.

"The kidnapping was very well-executed," the woman reported. "Approximately half the cars in this parking lot were rigged with smoke bombs, which would have blinded anyone without heat-vision goggles. Witnesses confirmed that the kidnappers were indeed wearing such goggles.

"The attack began with an attempt to take out the Auslanders' bodyguards, Officers Charles Ming and Abraham Forrest." Pictures of the two men flashed across the screen. "Ming, the father of two young children with a third on the way, is currently in critical condition at Metro City Hospital. Forrest is mostly unharmed."

_I know this already, _Roxanne thought. _You've been over it a thousand times. Tell me something new! _

"After that, the attackers detonated their smoke bombs. They took advantage of the confusion to snatch Kelly Auslander-" His picture. Maria gave a tiny sob. "-but not his adoptive brother Syx, who is currently recovering at Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted." Another picture.

"The kidnappers managed to escape unscathed with their victim. They abandoned their stolen car and boarded helicopters before the police arrived. Their whereabouts are unknown." Her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Here's Luke Holland with the weather."

So she _did_ care. That was one thing, at least. Too little, too late, but… something.

"That's _it?_" Ryan burst out. "We knew that already!"

"Evidently," growled Bernard.

"That's stupid! How can people grab someone on _international TV _and get away with it like that? How does that even _work_!" He waved his arms around.

Maria's shoulders shook. She buried her face in her hands.

Roxanne enveloped her friend in a hug. The older girl's trembling ceased. She sucked in deep breaths, trying to remain calm. "Sorry," she rasped. "I'm tr-trying not to fall to pieces."

"If it was Syx," her friend replied, "I'd do the same thing."

She sniffled, grabbed a Kleenex. Then she froze. "_Syx._ The clan-bond. Of course!"

"The what?" Ryan echoed.

Maria catapulted off the couch, sprinted to the door. She shoved her feet into her shoes, fumbling clumsily with her coat. "We have to get to the prison. We have to see Syx."

Roxanne glanced at Bernard. The boy shrugged. "Don't look at me."

"What are you waiting for?" his cousin cried. "We have to get to the prison, _now!_" She threw Roxanne and Bernard their coats.

"All right already!" he yelled.

"What about Ryan? I'm supposed to-"

Maria threw another coat at Roxanne's brother. "He can come too."

"I always knew you'd end up in prison," his sister muttered. Ryan stuck out his tongue.

If Bernard hadn't pointed out that public transportation was a lot faster than human legs, Maria would have sprinted all the way to the jail. Fortunately, her cousin hadn't lost his sense like she had. He was still Bernard: dry, witty, and practical.

She squirmed throughout the bus ride, growling with impatience at every unnecessary stop. But despite her impatience, she refused to explain what she'd remembered. Not in public, she warned.

The second they arrived at their stop, Maria bolted, nearly knocking down a pathetically overweight teenager. The boy swore at her. She paid him no mind.

"Sorry!" yelled Roxanne, darting after her suddenly manic friend. "Sorry!"

The teen responded by pointing his middle finger at her and cursing again. Roxanne scowled. Had Maria not been halfway down the street already, she would have stayed and confronted him.

The jail was surrounded by reporters, just as it had been for over a week. But now, they kept a respectful distance. Perhaps it was out of genuine sympathy for Syx and his family; perhaps it was because the kidnappers had disguised themselves as members of the press, and none of the crowd wanted to be mistaken for the scum who had taken Kelly.

Maria ignored the swarming crowd. Bright lights flashed as cameras went off in her face. A few people shouted questions, demanding to know how she felt about her boyfriend's abduction.

When she reached the door, she spun on her heel and shrieked, "How do you _think_ I feel?"

They shut up then.

Security waved them through without a second glance. Their faces were nearly as famous as the Auslanders'. It was a bit disturbing to be recognized by complete strangers, but Roxanne put up with it.

Unfortunately, everyone wanting to visit Syx had to gain Warden Ridgeway's approval. His elder ward was gone, and he could do nothing about that; but may the black hole take him if he failed the younger!

"How's he doing?" were Roxanne's first words. Then, remembering that they had never been properly introduced, she added, "I'm Roxanne Ritchie. This is my brother Ryan and our friends Maria Williams and Bernard Jones."

"He's doing… as well as can be expected." Ridgeway heaved a sigh. He looked old, much older than his fifty-one years.

"But he can still find him, right?" Maria demanded. "Through their bond thing."

"You said they weren't telepathic!" Bernard yelled. He pointed an accusing finger at her. "Liar."

"They're not telepathic," she snarled. "They're empathically linked, that's all. And that means that Syx can always find Kelly. _Always._"

Ridgeway frowned slightly. "According to Syx, Kelly is in Canada."

"That's great!" the piscine's girlfriend enthused. Tension drained from her shoulders. "Now all anyone has to do is send people up there and-" She took in the warden's exhausted face and trailed off. "What's wrong?"

"Paperwork," he ground out. "Bureaucratic red tape. Since they took Kelly over the border, this becomes Canada's responsibility. But the Canadians don't believe that he's in their territory, because no one matching Kelly's description showed up at their border checkpoints." He shook his head in frustration.

"Well," Bernard sneered, "it's not like they had _helicopters_ or anything that would let them bypass the border patrol."

"Exactly," Ridgeway snarled. "And even if the Canadians _did _choose to help, Syx can't pinpoint Kelly's exact location at this distance. He can give a rough estimate, but the Canadians would still have to search over ten square miles of ground. Worse, they'd have to do that without scaring the scum away, because then this entire mess would start all over again." He punched his desk.

Maria shook her head back and forth, back and forth. "What if they kill him?" she choked.

"They're not going to kill him," the warden assured her. "If these are the same people who took Syx back in kindergarten, they want to sell him. They won't harm him- an unmarked alien is worth more than an injured one."

"_If_," she echoed.

Ridgeway stared at her lost, frightened face. He had no children of his own, but his siblings had given him many nieces and nephews. Maria was about their age, and he had no doubt that she would marry Kelly one day- assuming the piscine survived.

Then Maria's eyes hardened. She grit her teeth, thinking as hard as she could. Her lips worked soundlessly as she created plan after plan.

"I could stir up the media," Roxanne suggested. Her jaw set. "Sic them on the Canadians, _make_ them do something."

"Even if the Canadians don't do anything, the announcement might scare them back into the U.S. Then we wouldn't have to worry about paperwork." Maria nodded firmly. Then she hesitated. "But it could backfire, make them more cautious. What do you guys think?"

His boys had good taste, the warden decided. The future Mrs. Dazarro and the future Mrs. Ztanye both had cores of steel.

He made his decision.

His plan was probably illegal, certainly dangerous. Not to mention that it depended on sending his second charge and a small group of other children into danger. But, looking at the determination on these youths' faces….

He had never believed that age was the most telling indicator of maturity. These teens, young as they were, were more than capable of rescuing Kelly.

A part of him wished he could go with them, but he knew he could not. Someone had to manage the fort, to keep the press from learning of their disappearance- and of Syx's.

They needed secrecy. If the kidnappers found out that their second target was gone, they _probably_ wouldn't think he could find them. But if they suspected, if they were on their guard, then their chances of rescuing the ichthyoid would plummet.

"I think that you should go with Plan B."

"There's a Plan B?" Maria queried.

"There's a Plan _A_?" her cousin muttered.

"Can I help?" Ryan asked.

The warden ignored the first boy and smiled at the second. "You can help, all right." Ryan had green eyes. Not as brilliant as Syx's- no human's orbs could compete with his- but still green. "In fact, you get the most important role."

Ryan grinned.

* * *

><p><em>February 28, 1990 <em>

"Shool isn't as fun as I thought it would be."

Lee's heart went out to the boy, so solemn-faced and sad. For once, he had left his piscine companion back in their shared cell. The warden reached across his desk, laid a comforting hand on the child's shoulders. "I know, Syx. I'm sorry."

The blue boy hesitated. "Warden?"

"Yes?"

"Why do they say I'm a villain?" The words gushed from his mouth. His great green eyes were moist. His lip quivered. "Why do they call me Megamind? Why- why do they hate me?"

_Oh, Syx…._ "They say things like that for a lot of reasons. First off, they're jealous. Not everyone is as smart as you."

"But I'm blue," the child pointed out.

Lee closed his eyes, counted to ten, opened them again. "Your parents sent you to an imperfect world, Messerosyx," he tried to explain. "Humans- we're a judgmental breed. We assign a lot of value to things that don't matter, things like money and conventional looks and fancy tricks. If you don't have those things… at best, you're ignored. I don't need to tell you what the worst manifestation is, because you've witnessed it for yourself.

"But, Messerosyx, just because everyone says you're a villain doesn't mean it's true. People have been saying the wrong thing for centuries. Take the Civil Rights Movement. Before that, people thought that blacks were inferior beings because of their skin. Now… well, there are still some people who think that. But they're few and far between, and life has gotten a lot better for blacks."

"But there are a lot of black people," the boy whispered. "There's only one of me."

Lee changed tactics. "Those people who say you're a villain- what do they say about Kelly?"

Anger crossed the boy's face. "Awful things, Warden. They say he's nothing but a stupid fish who should be put in an aquarium! They say he's not _tand_." He blinked, backtracked. "Well, they don't use those words, but I can tell they're thinking it."

"If they're wrong about Kelly, why would they be right about you?"

Syx looked honestly surprised. "I know they're wrong about me," he exclaimed. "I'm _not _a villain. If I was, my father wouldn't have said that I'm destined for greatness. And besides, I don't feel evil. I don't like seeing people hurt. Villains do, so I can't be one."

Ridgeway's heart swelled with pride. He thumped his charge's shoulder. "And I know you're not either."

Messerosyx smiled shyly, just for a moment- and in that moment, Lee saw a glimpse of the man he would become. And he was proud.

* * *

><p>Once again, everybody, Merry Christmas!<p>

Next chapter: the escape.


	19. Escape

_October 18, 1999 _

Bernard, Maria, Roxanne (her purse bulging with things no one needed to know about), and Ryan entered Syx's cell at 7:44 pm. Ridgeway came with them to speak with the guards. As he spoke with them, they turned their faces from their charge.

Bernard, Maria, Roxanne, and Ryan exited Syx's cell at 8:19 pm- or at least, that was what the alien's state-appointed guardians thought. They didn't notice that the younger Ritchie's eyes were unnaturally brilliant, nor did they see that their captive's- for he was a captive in his own home, despite what the government may claim- orbs had dulled to a human shade of green.

Ridgeway, though, did. A tiny smile crossed his face, quickly hidden before the guards could see it.

The moment the quartet exited the building, Ryan took the lead. He darted over to the staff parking lot, where Kelly's motorbike was parked.

A wicked grin crossed Roxanne's face. She'd always wanted to ride a flying bike.

Maria, who was afraid of heights and had refused Kelly's offer of a ride, blanched. She closed her eyes and whispered to herself. "It's for Kelly. It's for Kelly. It's for Kelly…."

Only Bernard, who had no idea what was so special about this bike aside from the fact that it was custom-made, was left out of the loop. "Isn't that a bit tiny to fit all four of us?"

Ryan's face turned towards him. So much determination shone on his borrowed face, in his unearthly green eyes, that Bernard fell silent.

"I can dehydrate you." Though Syx spoke with Ryan's still-boyish voice, something about his tone made them want to listen. "It doesn't hurt. I know. I've been dehydrated before. You get a bit dizzy when you're rehydrated, but that passes quite quickly. Of course, if you don't want to go through that, you can stay behind."

"Dehydrating is when you turn us into little blue cubes, right?" asked Maria.

Bernard gawked at her. In his mind, dehydration meant getting shriveled and pruney, _not_ turning into a little blue cube.

Syx nodded sharply. "Exactly. Like I said, it's not painful at all."

"Blue cube or flying motorcycle ten thousand feet above the ground. I pick the blue cube." Maria blushed. "Not that there's anything wrong with the bike. I just really don't like heights. At all. So I'd really prefer the cube, because cubes aren't self-aware or afraid of heights."

"Blue cube?" her cousin demanded. "How is that dehydration?"

"Water reverses the effects," Syx explained. He clutched something that was hidden by the holographic projection of Ryan's body.

His dehydration gun was his most prized possession. It was his first unique invention, created to while away the long hours at the Li'l Gifted School for Li'l Gifted Kids. He'd used the only available power source, the binky he had inherited from his dead parents- one of the only artifacts from his equally dead home planet. Over the years, he had added to the weapon. De-stroy, de-coupage, de-ath, de-compress, de-hydrate. He had more ideas for it, things to add on later, but the gun currently had only those five settings.

He prayed they would be enough.

"Blue cubes aren't any weirder than anything else that's happened lately," Roxanne grumbled. "Sure."

Syx glared at Bernard. Kelly wasn't moving anymore, thank all the Clan Founders, but every second they had him was another second they might hurt him.

"Fine," the grumpy boy groaned.

He hadn't finished closing his mouth when Syx pulled, aimed, and fired.

No one noticed as he shot the girls, gathered up the little blue cubes, and leapt onto the bike. He turned the keys. The vehicle hummed beneath him.

Syx flipped on the invisibility function.

Then he was off.

The air had no roads, no turns or detours. It did take a bit of maneuvering to escape the helicopters hovering around his home, but once he was away from them, he squeezed the accelerator with everything he was worth.

The bike was fast, capable of travelling up to speeds of two hundred miles per hour. Its rider took advantage of that, straining to get every last bit of speed that he could. He leaned forward, squinting despite the invisible force field which kept the wind from his eyes.

Kelly's being pulled at him, light for a moth, magnet to magnet. He flew north, wishing once more that he and the piscine were truly telepathic.

_I'm coming, Kelluerai,_ he thought, pushing the thought along their link.

He had been forced to fly above the buildings while driving through Metro City, but once he left its boundaries, he dove low before leveling out. The great lake's waters churned beneath him, but not near enough to rehydrate his unconventional passengers. The force of his passage left a wake behind him, spraying droplets of water into the air.

North he flew, whizzing across the international borders into Canada. He flew up, not wanting to collide with any tall trees. He flew perhaps two hundred feet above the ground, high enough to avoid all the trees and to avoid many hills.

The trip lasted a thousand eternities, but once he arrived, it felt like no time at all had passed.

Night had fallen long ago, but the complex where Kelly was hidden was well-lit. Even if it hadn't been, the Vihiln had better night vision than humans, though theirs was still not as good as the Pirs'.

Syx circled the enclosure three times, scanning it for weaknesses. It was a simple building, one story tall, shaped rather like a stick-straight U. Cars and helicopters were parked between the sides of the letter. The walls of the complex were windowless, nothing but cold metal. Not even the four doors had windows.

The blue boy parked his bike directly above the place where he could sense Kelly. The piscine was still unconscious, and he hadn't moved since his brother had left the prison. Syx had time.

The building was low enough for him to jump. He landed in the U's corner, completely silent.

No one was there. Doubtless they were all inside, watching Kelly.

He reached for a water bottle. His other hand fumbled for the three blue cubes. Tossing them onto the ground, he rehydrated his friends and girlfriend.

Poor Maria seemed distinctly green around the gills. She lay shuddering upon the earth, panting for air.

"That's it?" Roxanne murmured. Then she realized how cold it was and shivered, hugging herself for heat. "Syx," she began in a low voice, "is this it?"

"It is," he breathed back. "Kelly's there." He pointed across the courtyard to the opposite corner.

Maria pushed herself to her feet. "What are we waiting for?" she hissed. "Let's rescue him already!" Her voice rose on the last few words. The quartet fell silent, straining their ears.

No one came to investigate. The teens' shoulders relaxed.

"I can get Kelly myself," Syx explained. The others leaned forward. They could hardly hear him, he was speaking so quietly. "What I need you to do is destroy their vehicles."

Bernard arched a brow. "With what?"

The blue boy's grin became manic. He slunk towards the nearest car. "Warden Ridgeway put my lock-picking set in Roxanne's purse. That, and _this._" He withdrew… a pen.

"Terrifying."

Syx pressed the end of the pen. Red light flamed from its other end. It bored through the wall, melting it. He pressed the end again, just half a second later, and the laser vanished. It had already bored all the way through the three-inch-thick wall.

Bernard smirked. "Terrifying."

His friend nodded. "I only have one. Get the engines on the helicopters and the wheels on the- no, don't get the wheels. They might have spares. Go for the engines on the cars, too."

"So what are the lock picks for?" Roxanne wondered.

"You might need them," he shrugged. "Maria, has Kelly taught you anything about picking locks?"

"No."

"…Oh. Well, it's really not that difficult. You're smart enough to figure it out." He glanced back at the place his brother was hidden. The bond throbbed. "And I'll dehydrate the ones you can't destroy." He aimed and fired. A helicopter vanished.

They worked methodically, red and blue together. Maria used the lock picking set as an impromptu screwdriver, trying to loosen the wheels. Roxanne kept watch, glad that the building lacked windows.

They were halfway through the parking lot when Syx froze.

Ever since Kelly had been taken, he hadn't let go of their bond. He still held it as tightly as he could, tight enough to sense his brother's emotions like they were his own.

Kelly had finally woken up. And he was terrified.

Suddenly it was all too much for the blue boy. He'd never hurt anybody! Kelly hadn't either- Kelly was a wonderful person, despite his fishy heritage. He was simply fantastic.

_So why were these people hurting him?_

Because they were scum. Because _they _were the villains.

Syx snapped.

* * *

><p><em>October 18, 1999 <em>

"Hello, Mrs. Ritchie?"

"This is she."

"This is Warden Lee Ridgeway, Syx's legal guardian." (No longer true- that was Kelly- but the boys lived under his roof, so he could still lay claim to the title). "I'm just calling to let you know that your children want to spend the night here. To comfort Syx, you know. Is that all right? Roxanne can sleep in the staff lounge, and they'll be chaperoned all the while."

"Of course they can stay! Poor Syx, things must be just awful for him. How is he, by the way?"

Ridgeway heaved a sigh. "Downright miserable," he confessed, "and desperate to rescue his brother." He shot a glare in the direction of his wards' cell, where two government-mandated guards were watching over 'Syx.' _For his own safety_, of course. He had no doubt that they were genuinely trying to help- for political reasons if nothing else- but the only way to keep Syx safe was to keep his brother safe. They were a package deal.

"Poor Syx," she repeated. "Tell him that I'm so, so sorry about what happened to Kelly. I'll be praying for them." _That's all I can do._

Lee heard her words, both spoken and unspoken. He swallowed. "I will. Thank you, Mrs. Ritchie."

"Call me Rebecca," she ordered. "We'll be in-laws one day, after all."

"Only if you call me Lee," he replied. "I'll get your message to your kids, Rebecca."

"Thank you, Lee."

They hung up. Ridgeway let the phone rest for a minute before calling Frank Williams, Maria's father.

"Maria?" was the man's first word when he answered the phone. "Is that you?"

"No, this is Warden Lee Ridgeway, Kelly's legal guardian." Or he had been.

"Do you know where my daughter is?" he demanded.

"She's here at the prison, trying to comfort Syx."

The man wasn't fooled. Ridgeway would never learn why he'd been able to deceive Rebecca Ritchie but not Frank Williams. Perhaps it was something in his voice. Whatever the reason, this man knew. "She's trying to rescue Kelly, isn't she."

"No," he replied, too quickly to be convincing.

Frank was silent.

Ridgeway groaned.

They were quiet for a time. Then Frank sighed. "They all have to grow up sometime, I suppose," he murmured. "And if she was the one taken, I know Kelly would already be there." He paused. "But if anything happens to her, I'm holding you accountable."

"As you should."

"Is Bernard with them?"

No point in lying. "Yes."

Now it was Frank's turn to groan. "Wonderful. My sister will be thrilled. Ah… what was your excuse again?"

"As far as you know, Maria and Bernard are spending the night here to comfort Syx. Maria is sleeping in the staffroom; Bernard is staying in Syx's cell. They should be home sometime tomorrow afternoon."

"That soon?"

"That soon," Ridgeway confirmed. They'd be back by tomorrow afternoon, or they probably wouldn't be back at all.

* * *

><p><em>October 18, 1999 <em>

What on or off Earth was his idiot brother doing here?

Kelly had thought that Syx was safe. _He _might have been taken captive, but he'd taken comfort in the knowledge that his beloved ward was all right. The poor boy had already been stolen by these people once before; he did _not_ need to go through the trauma all over again.

But here he was, no more than fifty feet away from him. The kidnappers must have stashed them in different rooms- this blank and sterile dungeon for him, and some other place for his brother.

At least Syx wasn't hurt. He was scared, yes, but of _course_ he was scared! He had been kidnapped by people who would do who-knows-what to him before selling him off to someone who'd do even worse things.

He was afraid because he might never see his brother again.

At that appalling, horrifying thought, Kelly began to panic. His terror flamed across their bond, into Syx, who thought that his brother was being threatened, would soon be hurt.

"Not while I'm alive," the blue boy growled.

He fired.

* * *

><p>Next chapter: the big shoot-out, and the real villain revealed. Any guesses who told the Bad Guys about Syx and Kelly in the first place? No?<p>

This chapter is once again dedicated to elthfrae. Good luck.

-Corona


	20. Shootout

_October 18-October 19, 1999 _

Metal twisted, contorted into unnatural shapes. The guards who had been left to watch over Kelly looked up, their faces twin masks of surprise. The piscine tried to follow their gaze, but he was tied to a cold metal table and couldn't move that way.

"Is that a door?" whispered one of the guards. He shuffled, reaching for his handgun.

He moved not a moment too soon. Even as he spoke, Syx flipped his gun's setting from destroy to dehydrate. He fired again, and the shape he'd carved into the wall was reduced to a tiny blue cube.

"SYX!" his brother screamed. "GET OUT OF HERE! THEY HAVE _GUNS!" _

"So do I," the blue boy snarled. And charged.

The guards fired. They were unable to see their target- his holo-watch rendered him invisible- but they could hear his footsteps pounding on the floor.

People rushed into the room. Some were armed, most were not. They gawked at the hole in the wall, the shrieking ichthyoid, and the rapidly firing guards. "What's going on?" a woman bellowed.

Kelly's head snapped around. Syx's footsteps paused. They _knew _that voice.

"Riasonovsky," the piscine spat. "You're the one who told them about us?"

The ex-doctor had not aged gracefully. She was beginning to get chubby, and her face was lined with wrinkles. Her hair was gray as the table to which Kelly was strapped.

But age had not claimed her wits. She knew that there was only one person who could have blasted a hole in their wall, and that person was Syx Auslander. Syx Auslander, who would do anything for his brother.

"Aim at the fish!" she ordered, gesturing wildly at his captive form. "Aim your guns at the fish!"

As one, the guards aimed their guns at Kelly. Trapped, helpless Kelly, who had no chance of avoiding their bullets.

"Give yourself up, and the fish survives," Riasonovsky growled. "Stay invisible, and he dies. You have five seconds, Syx. Five… four… three…."

The ex-physician had been sacked before the invention of the dehydration gun. She had no idea that Syx possessed the ability to turn objects- and people- into little blue cubes.

Syx fired. His aim was true, just as it always was. The brilliant blue beam hit Kelly square in the chest. His entire body lit up for a single instant, then he was gone.

The guards shot back, of course. What else could they do? But their bullets couldn't harm the tiny blue cube containing Kelly. They pinged off the table, bouncing towards the invisible boy.

He yelped, throwing himself to the side. He landed wrong. The arm wearing the holo-watch collided with the ground. The watch's dial spun. Syx, in the form of Ryan Ritchie, flashed into invisibility.

The appearance of a very human teenager pulled several of the thugs up short. Not Riasonovsky. "It's a hologram, you fools!" she shrieked. The crazed woman grabbed the nearest gun, aimed, fired a round of bullets. Fortunately, she had no training in wielding weapons. She couldn't kill, as she had been aiming to do. All she could do was wound. Syx rolled, yelping. One of the shots had grazed his shoulder. "Shoot him! SHOOT HIM!"

Had they been paying attention to anything but the invisible blue boy, they would have noticed the thin beam of red light cutting through the wall. But no one saw- at least not until the kidnappers' largest, bulkiest, most heavily armored car came barreling through the weakened portion of the wall and into the room.

Maria gripped the steering wheel with white hands. Her eyes bulged in horror, but her jaw was set. From her place in the passenger seat, Roxanne hurled whatever she could find- rocks, paper clips, everything in the car and a few things she'd grabbed before boarding it- at the stunned kidnappers. Bernard followed on foot, brandishing the laser pen like a sword.

Syx, with his inhumanly fast brain, was the first to recover from the vehicle's appearance. He grabbed at the holo-watch, moving back into invisibility. Then he spoiled the effect by shouting, "Kelly's dehydrated! I have to get him!"

Roxanne saluted the area from which his voice had come. She reached for more ammunition, but found that she'd already used it all.

The poor guards scattered as Maria drove the car into their midst. Two men who hadn't moved quickly enough were hit. They went down.

Everyone with a gun began to fire, Riasonovsky included. Maria shrieked, diving down. The bullets bounced off the windshield. "Looks like we found a bulletproof car," Roxanne noted.

"Oh." Blushing, Maria raised her head. "I feel less terrified now."

"Ditto," Roxanne agreed, wiping sweat from her brow.

A couple more intelligent goons tried to flank the car, to aim for Roxanne's open window. The reporter-in-training yelped, began rolling it up.

Bernard fired glowing potshots at the crowd. He darted from place to place, narrowly avoiding several bullets. "These guys need to work on their aim," he muttered. Raising his voice, he called, "That the best you can do? You're pathetic!"

Rule one of combat: rage is unpredictable. In some people, it destroys focus, makes them easier to defeat. In others, it crystalizes skill, improves aim.

As per Murphy's Law, the people shooting at Bernard were among the latter group. He screamed in pain and shock as a bullet penetrated his shoulder.

Syx had reached the tiny box that was his brother when he heard Bernard's cry. He spun to face his friend. His other hand followed the bond to Kelly's small prison. Blue hands closed around a blue cube, and his brother was safe.

But Bernard was not. He was bleeding heavily, gasping and yelping. Syx glanced at his gun, made sure it was set to dehydrate, and fired.

This time, Riasonovsky saw what happened to someone who had been hit by the laser-like beam. They didn't disappear entirely, she observed; they were instead transformed.

"SHOOT AT THE CUBE!" she bellowed. "HE'S GOING FOR THE CUBE! HE CAN'T LEAVE WITHOUT IT!"

She hadn't misled them yet, so her henchmen obeyed. Bullets rained down upon Bernard's dehydrated form. They couldn't hurt him- he was invulnerable in that state- but they were enough to prevent Syx from retrieving him and escaping.

Maria spun the car around, aiming for the guards who were shooting at her cousin. "Hold on, Bernard," she whispered. "And Syx, and Kelly. Hold on."

But there were too many guards. If she aimed at one group, the others recovered from her assault and resumed firing at Bernard- or at her and Roxanne.

Something thudded against their windshield. Maria screamed, jabbing at every button in sight. Water squirted as the windshield wipers went to work. Blue light flared, and Syx materialized.

"I can't see!" the driver shrieked.

The guards aimed, fired. Syx rolled off, barely avoiding the bullets.

"Stop the car, stop the car!"

"I'm stopping, I'm stopping!"

The brakes screamed. Roxanne threw open her door. Syx lunged. A shower of bullets (how many did these people _have_?) followed. They crashed against the interior. Two penetrated all the way through.

Roxanne slammed the door shut. One of the bullets had grazed her skull. Blood gushed down the side of her head, around her ear, dripped onto the seat. Her breath rate accelerated.

"We need to get my cousin," Maria hissed. She hadn't started moving the vehicle again. A trio of goons began pulling at its doors. She shuddered, slammed the accelerator. The guards fell off. "We need to get Bernard. And Kelly. Unless you've got Kelly? Okay, you've got Kelly. Good. That's good. Now we just need to get Bernard."

"Get me over his cube," Syx ordered. He clutched his gun. Its setting had been changed again.

Destroy.

"Roger," the girl whispered. She steered.

Syx climbed over the seats into the back of the car. He spat. It wasn't the most dignified way to rehydrate someone, but it worked. Kelly, miserable and dizzy, reappeared. "I hate getting- are they _shooting_ at us?"

"Yes," his girlfriend called.

Kelly's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Maria? What are you doing here?"

"Traumatizing the Canadians."

"What?"

"We'll explain later," Syx promised. "Right now, we have to rescue Bernard. Scoot aside, Kelly."

The piscine rolled obediently. "Bernard's here too?"

Syx fired. A thin ray of flame erupted from his gun, burning through the floor of the car. His brow furrowed in concentration. He had to make the hole as small as possible, just large enough for his fist to go through.

Kelly peeked out the window. He swallowed. There were a _lot_ of people trying to kill them.

"I don't like this," his girlfriend mumbled. "Syx, what if they shoot at your hand when you grab him? That would be bad. You're not invulnerable."

"I'll deal with that when it happens," he growled. He flipped off his gun. A tiny circle of metal fell to the floor.

Kelly grabbed the gun. "What are you doing?" his brother demanded.

"Covering you," the ichthyoid snapped. "I might not have your aim, but I can sweep it in an arc. That'll keep them busy." He bared his fangs. "How long do you need?"

Maria gave her boyfriend a strange look. "Wouldn't that dehydrate the walls?"

"…Good point. But they don't know that."

Syx gazed through the hole. "Bernard's not here," he announced. "Maria, drive us forward- slowly."

She nodded, inched forward. Syx kept his hawk-like gaze to the ground. He wished with all his heart that Bernard had been in the van as well.

"Can we trade places, Miss Ritchie?" Kelly asked.

"It's Roxanne," she grumbled, crawling into the back. "It's not that hard a name to remember, Mr. Auslander."

"Kelluerai."

"What?"

He didn't look at her as he climbed into the passenger seat. _Shotgun,_ they called it. How fitting.

By this time, their opponents had _finally _run out of bullets. A few had refills. They paused to reload, keeping only half an eye on the armored car. They assumed- quite erroneously- that the teens were busy trying to find Bernard.

A few goons had abandoned guns entirely in favor of ramming themselves against the car's sides. The vehicle had been designed to repel bullets, not full-grown men; it was beginning to crumple. "Found him yet?" Maria squeaked.

"Keep going! And Kelly, could you give me the gun? One of them is crawling under the car."

His brother tossed it. Syx shot. The yelping guard was transformed into yet another blue cube.

"Give me the gun again," Kelly ordered. "Even if I can't shoot without potentially destroying the walls, I can at least make scary movements." He froze. "Uh, everyone? We have a problem."

"What?" demanded Roxanne.

Kelly pointed. The girls followed his gaze. The younger cursed. The elder said, "Syx, I think we found Bernard."

The blue boy jerked up. His eyes grew wide. "Oh."

Riasonovsky brandished a familiar blue shape. Her face was a mask of triumph. "Looking for this?"

Maria gunned the accelerator, spun the wheel. The ex-physician laughed maniacally as she dodged.

The car might be fast, but it wasn't anywhere near as agile as a human being. Maria couldn't get near enough to Riasonovsky to retrieve her cousin. Kelly didn't dare fire- their enemy was quick on her feet, despite her bulk, and he really didn't want the ceiling to cave in. "Anyone have a plan?" he called.

"Actually, yes." Syx gripped his dehydration gun. He flipped it to destroy once again, burned a hole through the roof of the car. "The ceiling can't cave in if it doesn't exist." He changed its settings once more, fired. The ceiling turned blue before vanishing. The flying bike, which Syx had parked directly above his brother, crashed onto the examination table to which Kelly had been strapped.

Riasonovsky's face drained of color. "Run!" she cried, but her shout cut off in a gasp. Two cubes clattered to the floor.

"I have always wanted to do this," Kelly confessed, turning the dehydration gun.

"You've always wanted to turn a bunch of alien-hating kidnappers into little blue cubes while your girlfriend fights off a panic attack?"

The piscine blushed. "Not exactly…."

The remaining guards fled. They had used up all their ammo; they didn't want to be turned into blue cubes (it looked painful, if nothing else); they had no way of penetrating the bulletproof (albeit beaten-up) car. They knew better than to attack.

Still, Syx and Kelly were cautious as they slid out of the car. Behind them, Roxanne gripped her boyfriend's prized invention.

The boys gathered all the dehydrated cubes- all twenty-seven of them. Kelly's wild arc had hit quite a few guards. Two of those were the wall and ceiling, and another contained Bernard, but since they had no way of knowing which was which, they kept everything in cube form. Besides, Bernard had a gunshot wound. He wouldn't bleed like this.

"Think we could find another car with the keys in the ignition?" Roxanne asked. She gave their ride a quick once-over. "Because this one's in pretty cruddy shape."

"Kelly's bike is here," Syx pointed out. "I think- I hope- it still works after that fall." He poked at its invisible form. It rumbled. "Okay, it lives."

"Isn't that a bit small to carry all of us?" Kelly wondered.

"We were dehydrated," Maria grumbled. She had climbed out of the car to stand by his side. Her hand clutched his. "You're right. It's not fun at all."

The bike became visible. Syx mounted it. "You can drive, Kelly. I'll shoot at the undestroyed vehicles."

"Undestroyed?"

"So we're getting dehydrated again?" Maria asked. At Syx's nod, she grimaced. "Give me a second, okay?" She yanked one of Kelly's ear-fins.

The ichthyoid in question yelped. "What was that-"

Maria silenced him with a very… _relieved _kiss. Just glimpsing it made Syx turn purple. He turned to Roxanne. She, too, was blushing brilliantly.

"Okay, you can shoot me now."

"Right," the blue boy mumbled, and did so. "You too, Roxanne?"

"Yeah. I hate road trips."

"Gotcha." He fired one last time before changing its setting to destroy. "Coming, Kelly?"

"Wha?" The ichthyoid jumped, blinked rapidly, reddened. "Oh. Yeah. Yeah. I'm coming. Have I mentioned that I really, really love Maria?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Good."

"Come on, you idiotic ichthyoid. We have cars to blow up."


	21. Recovering

_October 19, 1999_

Lucas Hancock had dealt with all manner of strange things during his thirty-four years as a police officer. He'd lived in Toronto for over two decades before returning to the sleepy town of his youth, and the capital had attracted quite a few eccentric criminals. That was one of the reasons he'd come back to Lanesboro in the first place- he didn't want to deal with the crazies anymore.

But a pair of internationally famous space aliens landing a flying hover bike in front of his police station at three o'clock in the morning beat anything and everything he'd experienced in the capital.

The somewhat hysterical night watchman had been incoherent on the phone, and Hancock didn't blame him. He certainly didn't appreciate being awakened in the dead of night (nor did his wife), but he had to admit that the deputy had done the right thing.

By the time he arrived at the station, a pair of teenage girls had shown up. He recognized them as Roxanne Ritchie and Maria Williams, the aliens' almost-as-famous-as-they-were girlfriends. What they were doing in Canada or how they'd arrived there he had no idea.

His stupefied deputy provided the answer. "They were cubes," he squeaked. "They were little blue glowy boxes, and they turned into human beings."

"Take the rest of the night off," he ordered. The kid couldn't be right… could he? Because in a world where aliens were real, who could say for certain the cubes couldn't transform into teenagers?

The younger cop fled. Hancock idly noted that he probably wouldn't last long in this line of work.

Then he looked at the aliens- the big-headed _blue_ boy and his fish-finned brother, whose glowing hair was _not_ helping- and had to fight the temptation to run after him.

He sucked in a breath, swallowed, forced out the words. "I thought you were kidnapped?"

"I was," the fishy one- Kelly, that was his name, Kelly Auslander- replied flippantly. "They were holding me in this U place about ten miles that way." He pointed north-northeast. "But Syx, Maria, Roxanne, and Bernard found me."

Hancock wished he'd thought to bring Tylenol. Or maybe whiskey would be more appropriate. But bizarre or not, protocol was protocol. Trying to remain professional, he said, "Okay then. Just come into my office, and you can tell me the entire story."

They obeyed.

The next forty minutes were filled with an insane yarn that couldn't possibly be true- and yet it was. The proof sat before him.

"Let's see if I've got this straight," he said. "You, Syx, were able to find him, Kelly. I have no idea _how_ you managed that, but anyways, you brought a trio of teenagers to save him."

"Right so far." Syx had the grace to look embarrassed.

"We didn't give him much of a choice," Roxanne pointed out. "He knew there was no way we would let him go off on his own."

"You flew in on a flying motorcycle, used a glorified laser pen and a pacifier-powered gun to destroy half the kidnappers' vehicles, became invisible, tore two holes in the wall, and defeated the baddies by turning them into glowing blue cubes. Then you turned your girlfriends into boxes and flew off on aforementioned flying motorcycle while taking potshots at the cars that weren't destroyed."

"Technically, I wasn't the one who did all that. Roxanne, Maria, and Bernard tore the second hole in the wall, and Kelly was the one who did most of the shooting. But you've got the gist of it."

Hancock closed his eyes and counted to ten. "Now you've hauled those little boxes to me because they have criminals inside of them, except that one has your friend Bernard and two others have a bunch of metal that could crush us all."

"Indeed."

He did _not _whimper. He refused to whimper. "…I don't get paid enough for this."

Syx chuckled ruefully. "Warden Ridgeway, our guardian, says the exact same thing."

* * *

><p><em>October 19, 1999 <em>

After a sleepless night spent tossing and turning in bed, Lee returned himself to the prison. He ignored the mass of reporters, pushing through them to reach his destination.

Ryan Ritchie was still in his Syx disguise. That was both good and bad: good because he hadn't been busted (yet), and bad because Syx hadn't returned. The warden thought of what he'd said to Maria's father- if they weren't back soon, they wouldn't _be_ back.

His heart sank, but he had a job to do. He had to keep up the act, make it seem like the blue boy within the cell was real, buy Syx and Kelly time. "Any escape attempts?" he asked the disguised human.

Ryan shook his head. He yawned widely. Apparently Lee wasn't the only one who'd had trouble sleeping.

"He's been quiet as a lamb," one of the guards announced. "Odd, that. I thought he'd be more concerned about his… _brother._"

Ridgeway scowled. "Listen, you," he began.

"Warden! Warden!"

Everyone spun to face Enrique. "Syx and Kelly are- how did you get here so fast?" This was directed at the still-disguised Ryan. "You were outside just a minute ago."

"Holo-watch," the boy replied gleefully. He removed it from his wrist, revealing Ryan Ritchie. "The real Syx has been gone for hours."

The government-appointed guards gawked, stunned into motionlessness. Ryan smirked evilly at them.

"Oh." Enrique blinked. "That explains how he ended up in Canada without anyone raising the alarm. But anyways, he's back. And he's brought Kelly!"

Ryan whooped. "Ha ha, victory!" He quieted, became serious. "What about my sister Roxanne?"

"She seems okay," the guard replied. "Tired, but just fine."

But Ridgeway didn't hear their conversation. He had already bolted through the halls, ignoring the startled calls of the prisoners. His boys were his only concern.

The four teens, not wanting to stay outside in the cold (and where the media could see them), had crowded into the entryway. Maria had trapped her boyfriend in an embrace; she wasn't letting him anywhere out of her sight for a long, long time. Syx and Roxanne's foreheads were pressed together. They spoke softly. The Vihiln toyed with two dehydrated somethings.

Lee laughed aloud. Tears of joy threatened, but he forced them back. Only a wide grin betrayed his happiness. "_Ayzin vo, Messerosyx._" Good work, Hero.

His charge blushed purple. "I had lots of help," he mumbled. "If Maria hadn't driven that car through the wall, they'd have shot me. And if Roxanne hadn't-"

"All right, then. Good work, _heroes._"

Syx smiled.

* * *

><p><em>October 19- October 31, 1999 <em>

Syx's biggest concern (aside from Bernard's bullet wound) had been the illegal border crossing. Canada and America were on good terms, but he had been fairly certain that flying across their border in the dead of night would step on more than a few toes.

He was pleasantly surprised when both countries bent over backwards to absolve him and his three human friends of their crime. Canada was embarrassed for not believing his claim that Kelly was on _their_ territory. The prime minister and his staff believed that if they did the Auslanders enough favors, the brothers would gloss over their country's incompetence in handling the kidnapping. The American government took one look at Syx's inventions and decided that anyone who could create things like that at such a young age was someone to be courted, not thrown in an underground facility and dissected.

So, instead of clapping the aliens and their accomplices in irons, they hailed the teens as heroes. Even Kelly was lauded for his 'bravery under fire,' whatever that meant.

The official statement they released to the media strongly hinted that the governments had been doing everything in their power to rescue Kelly. If Syx hadn't gotten there first (quite heroically, they always hastened to add), the criminal compound would have been destroyed within the week.

The Auslanders, not wanting to push their luck, simply smiled and nodded.

Roxanne was somewhat annoyed at the two governments' evasions, but she understood why she had to keep quiet. These people had the power to keep her boyfriend and future brother-in-law alive, so she would humor them.

Bernard was out of the hospital in record time. Apparently, being dehydrated had done something to his cells which accelerated the healing process. Syx had multiple theories about why that might be, but Roxanne couldn't understand any of them. She was intelligent, but there were only so many ten-syllable words a girl could take.

Whatever the reason, he was back at school the next Monday: a bit paler than normal, but whole and healthy.

Much to the dour boy's surprise, he received a standing ovation. The entire population of Metro High knew what he'd done, and they weren't about to forget it. "BER-NARD! BER-NARD! BER-NARD!"

"I should get shot more often," he murmured.

Maria, who had insisted on escorting him to his first class of the day, gaped. "Bernard, are you _smiling_?"

"No, I'm exercising my lips. The upwards position works a lot more muscles than my usual one."

"You_ are _smiling!"

Her normally grouchy cousin graced her with a wide grin. It was probably the widest he'd ever smiled in his life. In front of them, the cheers redoubled.

Bernard might have been a hero, but he wasn't above milking his injury for everything it was worth. Jocks carried his books; pretty girls listened to his tale with bated breath.

"What a twit," Maria laughed.

"I think it runs in the family," her boyfriend teased. She shoved him playfully.

"How long do you think that's going to last?" Syx wondered.

"I give it till Christmas," Roxanne decided.

"I give it a week," Kelly countered.

"Wanna bet, fish-boy?"

"You're on, monkey girl."

Bernard's recovery had been swift and without complication, but the other gunshot victim was not nearly so lucky. Charlie Ming's wound became infected four days after his initial injury. He had to stay in the hospital almost until Halloween.

But the Auslanders hadn't forgotten the officer- or their promise to him. On Halloween afternoon, hours before the first trick-or-treaters were due to arrive, the doorbell to his house rang. "I'll get it," called Charlie's daughter Qing. She opened the door- and screamed.

Her family came running: the heavily pregnant woman of the house, the girl's older brother Bao, her still-weak father.

They found the girl wrapped around Syx's waist, still screaming in joy. Beside him, Kelly hid a laugh.

"You're early," Charlie observed.

"You arranged this?" squealed Qing. "Oh, thank you Daddy, thank you thank you thank you thank you! You're the best daddy in the world." She hugged Syx tighter.

Bao stared at the aliens with bulging brown eyes. Very slowly, he raised his hand in a wave. "_Darjot._"

"_Darjot,_ Bao," Kelly replied.

The boy beamed. "For once, Dad, I agree with Qing. You really _are_ the world's best dad."

Then he realized what the aliens were wearing. Syx was clad in a skintight black jumpsuit. A deep blue, shining cape hung from his shoulders. The cape flared upward in a high collar. Kelly wore an exact replica of Yoda's robes.

Bao's eyes bulged even more. "No way…."

"Well," Charlie shrugged, "I could hardly let your pregnant mother take you trick-or-treating, now, could I? And since I can't go myself…."

Qing shrieked in joy and hugged Syx once again. "Easy there!" the blue boy cried. "You're going to suffocate me. See? I'm already turning blue!"

She giggled. "You're funny!" But she did let go. "Oh Daddy, thank you so much! I'll be good forever and ever and _ever_."

"Or until next Tuesday," her mother muttered. "Whichever comes first."

They didn't leave until two hours later, at which point Qing became a fairy princess and Bao a ninja. The quartet attracted quite a bit of attention as they wandered the streets, begging for candy. (Even Syx tried to beg, though Kelly put a stop to that after the first house. "You're too old for that," he chided gently. "Leave some for the kids, okay?" To which Qing had replied, "Don't worry, Syx. I'll give you my Tootsie Rolls. I hate Tootsie Rolls.")

For years to come, the Ming children would view that Halloween as the best day ever. Not even Wayne Scott's unwelcome intervention could spoil their fun.

He, too, was dressed in a Halloween costume- except for him, the white-and-gold ensemble wasn't exactly a costume. It was (in his mind, at least) the uniform of the Official Hero of Metro City.

He floated down, bright and shining in the darkening street, chest puffed out in a way that was supposed to make him look majestic but only made him seem pompous. "Showing your true colors, I see," he sneered, eyeballing Syx's costume.

"…You realize that this is Halloween, right?"

Metro Dude swaggered over. He was tall, much larger than the skinny Syx. The blue boy stepped back. Behind him, Kelly's fins flattened against his head.

"We're not doing anything wrong," the Pir growled. "We're just taking some kids-"

"Hostages."

"We're not hostages!" Qing cried. She threw her candy-filled basket at the Glau's face. It bounced off. "You're just jealous!"

"Go away!" her brother added.

The super's jaw twitched. Their mind-control powers must be very strong indeed. "I'm watching you," he vowed darkly, and flew off into the night.

The four trick-or-treaters watched him go. Then Kelly turned to Syx. "You know, we really need to do something about him."

High above them, Wayne smiled. That was a villainous sentiment if he ever heard one.

Syx grinned. "You leave that to me."

* * *

><p>Personally, I wouldn't want to name my daughter Qing Ming, but the name 'Qing' can refer to either blue or green.<p>

Next chapter is the last. The epilogue, if you will.

-Corona


	22. Epilogue: An Obvious Solution

_December 16, 1999 _

Syx was awakened when his overexcited brother blew a party horn in his face. The blue boy shrieked, tumbling out of bed in a heap of blankets.

Kelly beamed toothily. "Happy birthday, Syx!" he sing-songed. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you-"

"How is it," the other alien groaned, "that you can never remember your own birthday, but still remember to do this _every single year?_"

"How is it," his brother retorted, "that you always remember my birthday, but forget that I do this _every single year_?"

"Because each year, I foolishly hope that you've grown out of it. Isn't it a bit juvenile to wake me up like this?"

"But it's fun." His smile faded slightly. "Besides, this is probably the least ostentatious display you'll see all day."

Syx moaned. "I'm guessing that the warden couldn't convince the media to stay away?"

"Nope."

"…I really should have expected that. Do you think he'll let me stay home from school?"

Kelly snorted.

The Auslanders knew that, as the only two survivors of their planet and the only confirmed space aliens on Earth (almost everyone knew that Metro Dude was also inhuman, but few people came out and said it), they would have to deal with the news for the rest of their lives. That did not, however, mean they had to like it.

"But since it's your birthday," the piscine comforted him, "he's agreed to let us use the holo-watches to _get_ to school. We have to take them off once we arrive, but a brief reprieve is better than instant swarming."

"Slightly better," Syx agreed.

They scanned two guards, human men who could theoretically escape the prison without a second glance. Unfortunately, the media had anticipated their action. They knew about the holo-watches, and they knew that the brothers would probably try to avoid them. Instead of taking the hint like polite people would do, they mobbed anyone and everyone who exited the prison.

The reporters took one look at the green-eyed guard and his brown-eyed partner and charged. The brothers took on comical expressions of abject horror. "Run for it!" Syx screamed.

"I'm running, I'm running!"

Years of training to escape kidnappers and months of experience with escaping the press had made the brothers phenomenal sprinters. They tore through the mob of reporters and journalists, heading for the besieged parking lot.

"That's _it_," Syx snarled, pouncing on the motorcycle and twisting the keys. "The second we get home from shool, I'm building a door in the roof so we can take the hover bike directly from our cell to wherever we need to be."

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Kelly whined.

"Because I thought that this would die down by now, that's why!"

"Good point," the piscine acknowledged.

The bike roared to life. Kelly sighed in relief as they lifted off the ground, away from the crowd of reporters (who were shooting pictures and screaming their birthday well-wishes to Syx), through the helicopters, and into the sky. "We need to get a restraining order."

"Tell me about it," Syx groaned. "Honestly, I can't understand why some people go out of their way to become famous. It's a lot more trouble than it's worth."

"I think it's because of me," his brother teased. "I'm very photogenic, you know."

Syx nodded. Kelly started. He'd expected the blue boy to protest loudly and theatrically, not to agree. "You're right about this being your fault, but wrong about why it is. The reporters chase us around because they think that you and Maria are so-o-o cute together."

The ichthyoid reddened. "It's your birthday, so I'll let you win." He thought for a moment. "Do you think we should land on the roof?"

"Excellent idea, you phenomenal fish. Takashi won't mind."

Kelly flipped on the invisibility function. "Don't want them to see us," he muttered.

They arrived at Metro High with no further complications. Once again, the motorcycle's 'special functions' had saved their bacon.

Kelly removed his holo-watch and shoved it in his backpack. Syx reluctantly followed suit. "I know that they'd find us anyways- they know our class schedule- but there's something comforting about having these," he sighed.

"That there is," his brother agreed. "Makes me long for the good old days, right, Syx?"

"Actually, not really. It's kind of nice, not hiding anymore." His expression became mischievous. "Now, have you got everything? Including the you-know-what?"

Kelly smiled, showing off his shark-like teeth. "Oh, I've got the you-know-what."

"I knew you had some kind of evil plan!" Metro Dude cried, swooping down from the skies. "What's your plan, Megamind?"

"Were you stalking us?" the blue boy demanded. "Because there's no other way that you-"

"Justice is duty-bound to keep its watchful eye on the forces of evil."

"Then you're really not doing a good job of it," said Kelly, rummaging through his backpack, "or you'd have known what happened yesterday. Right, Syx?"

Metro Dude's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What happened yesterday, you fiends? Did you acquire the plans for a doomsday robot?"

Kelly found the thing he was looking for, a rolled-up sheet of paper. He handed it to Syx, who accepted the parcel with a wicked grin. "Nope. No killer robots. Just this restraining order."

Wayne's jaw nearly fell off its hinges. "Wh-what?" he asked stupidly.

"Warden Ridgeway's wife is a judge," Kelly explained cheerily. "And she's really protective of us. So when she heard that you've been following us around like some kind of crazy stalker-"

"Justice is duty-bound-"

"-she decided to let Syx and I get a restraining order. Against _you._ So now you're not allowed within five hundred feet of us."

Metro Dude's jaw worked silently. He couldn't believe it, couldn't comprehend it. The knowledge that he was _legally forbidden to _meddle in the affairs of these obvious super villains simply did not compute.

"And what do you know?" Syx laughed, eyes sparkling. "You're within five hundred feet of us. Which is breaking the law. Which is not heroic at all."

"Don't worry, though," Kelly promised. "We won't tell anyone if you leave us right this moment."

Metro Dude hesitated. His thoughts scurried along, running a thousand times faster than normal. If he stayed, he would lose his reputation as someone who could be trusted, someone who would obey the rules and uphold the law. But if he left….

Well, he reasoned, when these two do become villains, they'll remove the restraining order. They'll have no choice, because I won't be able to help them otherwise. And then everyone will see that I was right all along.

Glowering, he growled, "You win this time, Megamind. But I warn you- justice never sleeps!" He soared away.

The brothers waited until he was gone before howling with laughter. They were still laughing several minutes later when Maria, Roxanne, and Bernard walked out onto the roof. "Care to let us in on the joke?" the droll boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

The aliens' laughter abated, but not their immense grins. "Metro _Dud_ just found out about the restraining order," Kelly explained, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend. "He didn't seem very happy about it, did he, Syx?"

"Not happy at all," the blue boy agreed, nodding sagely.

Roxanne kissed his cheek. "In other words," she noted, "it's already the best birthday you've ever had."

Messerosyx smiled adoringly at her, the love of his life. "Yes. It is."

* * *

><p>Mets just got OWNED. Ha.<p>

Story complete.


End file.
